Twin River May Lay off 1,300 Employees in September

More than 1,300 employees of Twin River in Rhode Island may be permanently laid off on September 30. The operator already filed the layoff notice in the state Department of labor on August 11.

Twin River May Lay off Employees at Lincoln and Tiverton Properties

More than 1,300 employees by Twin River who are currently furloughed may be laid off, reported Providence Journal last week. Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle said that the company filed layoff notice with the state Department of Labor and Training on August 11. According to the layoff notice, more than 1,300 furloughed employees in Rhode Island may be permanently laid off on September 30. Some 1,043 employees in Lincoln and 296 employees in Tiverton properties may be affected.

Looking at data from last year, we observe that Twin River had some 4,900 employees. But similar to other industries, the operator was also impacted by the spread of COVID-19. The news about the layoffs came on the same day when Twin River Worldwide Holdings revealed its Q2 2020 results. Due to the casino closure enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, back in April and May, the operator announced some $24 million in losses.

Elsewhere, keeping in mind the COVID-19 impact across all industries, the losses of Twin River did not come unexpected. Earlier this month, following the Caesars and Eldorado Resorts megamerger for some $17.3 billion the company announced losses as well. Some $100 million in net losses were reported by Caesars for the second quarter of 2020.

Twin River Cuts Back on Expenses

George Papanier, Twin River CEO commented in a conference call saying that while the company tried to reinstate as many employees as possible, currently it is uncertain if how many employees will come back.  Papanier said: “While we have been able to welcome back a large percentage of those affected, there are still a large number of employees affected on furlough while we await the ability to increase capacity and amenities.“

Furthermore, he outlined that the Twin River managed to identify areas that may see expenses reduction. Papanier also noted that the company is still providing health insurance benefits for furloughed employees. Twin Rivers’ CEO pointed out that while the company strives to capture market share and revenue, it won’t be able to just “return to the old way of doing business”. Papanier did not miss to say that the new efficiencies which were implemented will be beneficial in the long term. He added that the expected result will be improved profitability for the properties of Twin River, despite the increased spending for cleaning materials.

Looking at Twin River revenue results for June and July we can see that the company is recovering from the COVID-19 impact. June results showed only $2 million losses in Q2. According to Papanier, good results are expected for July as well. Moreover, the company hopes that its venues will be allowed to resume 24-hour operations soon which will undoubtedly increase the revenue.