Difficult Days for Las Vegas Ahead – Furloughs and Layoffs Announced

Furloughs were announced by Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas. Furthermore, Tropicana and Circus Circus have announced planned layoffs of employees.

Furloughs Announced by Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas

Wynn Resorts has announced that it will furlough a part of its Las Vegas employees. The casinos in Nevada as well as other entertainment venues were ordered to close back in mid-March. This was a part of the state’s plan to battle the growing COVID-19 spread. Looking back at the beginning of June, operators were allowed to reopen their venues, but with limited visitor capacity. With that in mind, Wynn Resorts reopened its two properties in Las Vegas. However, with the lower rates of business, Wynn resorts announced plans for furloughs.

Yesterday, the company said in a statement: “Although we retained all of our people while we were closed, we now know how challenged business volumes in Las Vegas are and are staffing to the significantly reduced demand.” Even though the operator did not share an exact number of the employees who will be on furlough, it said it would be in a single digit percentage out of the total number of employees. Looking at numbers from the end of last year, we observe that Wynn Resorts had some 16,400 employees in the United States.

Tropicana and Circus Circus Announced Layoffs

Elsewhere on the Strip of Las Vegas, employee layoffs were announced. The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation was notified by Tropicana Las Vegas and Circus Circus Hotel and Casino about the operator’s plans for layoffs.

Tropicana Las Vegas has announced that it may be laying off some 620 of its employees in October. As a reason, the company pointed out the impact of COVID-19. Upon submitting the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices earlier in July, Tropicana Assistant General Manager Mike Thoma wrote: “These layoffs at Tropicana Las Vegas, Inc. are the unfortunate result of COVID-19 related business circumstances that were sudden, dramatic and beyond our control.”

Near the end of June, Circus Circus also announced that it will be laying off some 252 employees. The operator contacted Las Vegas’s mayor and the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation to notify that effective from September 1, the company will be laying off that number of employees.

The Gambling Capital of the World Faces Difficult Recovery

Looking at the recently announced furloughs and layoffs, we can conclude that the gaming industry in Las Vegas will go through a difficult recovery process. With that in mind, Las Vegas Sands Corp. has revealed its second quarter results. The company, similar to other operators reported revenue decline as its properties raised only $36 million for June this year. Comparing the quarter results, year-on-year basis we observe a 97% decline in sales revenue.

Back in June, the leading credit ratings provider, Fitch Ratings has released a report, which outlined that the US gaming industry will recover in a U-shaped post-reopening recovery. Fitch Ratings outlined in its report that US casinos will likely need a few years to recover and suggested that this will happen in 2023.