Mohegan Sun to Lay off Undisclosed Number of Employees

Employees of Mohegan Sun currently on furlough will be permanently laid off unless called in to work until September 30. While the company hasn’t revealed how many employees will be affected, by now an approximate of 75% of the employees were called in to work.

Layoffs of Undisclosed Number of Mohegan Sun Employees

Thursday, August 14, Mohegan Sun announced layoffs of undisclosed number of employees. The company said that employees currently on furlough that are not called in to work until September 30 will be permanently laid off. Mohegan Sun, similar to other industry giants had to close back in mid-March.

In an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 across the U.S. many states issued orders of shutdown for businesses labelled as “non-essential”. The closure of all venues effectively led to furlough of all Mohegan Sun employees. Since June the operator has called in approximately 75% of its employees. This makes more than 3,800 Mohegan Sun employees who have returned back to work.

Cited by The Day, in a YouTube video Mohegan Sun’s president and general manager, Jeff Hamilton said that many of the amenities which draw visitors have been shut down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He continued by pointing out that earlier this year, the impact of COVID-19 was expected to be minimal. “When we closed, I thought we would reopen in a week or two,” added Hamilton.

He continued by stressing: “We’ve gotten to a point where we can’t reasonably say to all of our team members that you’re going to return to work soon and in some cases, if ever.” Hamilton pointed out that while aspects of the business are changing, he hopes that the company will get to the same point as it was in the beginning of this year in January. “…but there’s so much uncertainty,” he concluded.

Difficult Times for the Gambling Industry in the U.S.

In a separate statement, the Mohegan Sun president and general manager announced that the layoffs are the result of the COVID-19 impact. On September 30, the company will conclude its furlough program, reducing the workforce team members who have not been called back to work prior to that date. The company added that it is currently liaising with affected team members in order to retrain them in areas where employees are demanded.

“This difficult decision came after careful consideration and was driven by the unprecedented circumstances created by the pandemic, including reduced capacity and the inability to open all of the property amenities,”

added Hamilton

Elsewhere in Las Vegas, a report by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority revealed a staggering decline in number of visitors. According to the report which compared results to June 2019, some 70.5% decline in the number of visitors is observed. Furthermore, while in June last year Las Vegas conventions drew 541,000 visitors, for the same period this year there were 0 conventions. Back in July, casino industry giants in Las Vegas announced many layoffs and furloughs. With that in mind, we can only hope that the U.S. can shake off the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and restart the industries which were impacted.