Caesars Entertainment is furloughing approximately 90 percent of its workforce as the corona virus crisis keeps the world’s casinos shuttered. It’s a brutal blow for the furloughed staff and had to be an extraordinarily difficult decision for company officials to make. But that, unfortunately, seems to be the reality of life in 2020.
News of the furloughs was reported on by the Las Vegas Review Journal late last week. In Las Vegas alone, the company owns seven properties (Bally’s, The Cromwell, Flamingo, The Linq Hotel and the Linq Promenade, Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood) and leases three (Caesars Palace, Harrah’s and Rio). Caesars also owns and manages another 29 properties across the country, including in hard hit Louisiana and New Jersey.
Caesars CEO Tony Rodio commented on the furloughs saying, “Given the closure of our properties, we are taking difficult but necessary steps to protect the company’s financial position and its ability to recover when circumstances allow us to reopen and begin welcoming our guests and employees back to our properties. The Company entered this crisis with strong operating performance, which, combined with the steps we are taking now, are critical to the future of our company.”
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, furloughed employees are receiving two weeks’ worth of pay, and are also able to dip into any accrued sick and vacation time during the furlough. It’s worth noting that under positive circumstances, almost all of the furloughed workers would eventually be called back to work.
Caesars currently employs approximately 64,000 people, though an exact number of how many have been retained during the closure period was not available.