Boyd Gaming Lays Off 25% of Workforce, Joining Others Around the US

The casino giant Boyd Gaming has announced a 25% reduction of its employees due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that nearly all of the company’s properties reopened, some 2,500 employees in Nevada were laid off.

Boyd Gaming Laid of at Least 2,500 off Its Nevada Employees

Boyd Gaming Corp has announced that the company has laid off at least 2,500 employees in Nevada. Back in mid-March, all casinos and other entertainment venues in Nevada were ordered to shut down in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. So far, Boyd Gaming reopened 26 out of its 29 casinos but the expected results are still far from the pre-COVID-19 levels. The properties which remain closed are:

• Eastside Cannery Casino-Hotel
• Eldorado Casino
• Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel

Back in May, the company sent notification letters under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act to all of its employees. Back then, employees were notified that the company may be laying off 25% to 60% of its employees. With that in mind, Boyd Gaming has some 10,000 employees in Nevada alone. This makes at least 2,500 employees laid off.

Employee Layoffs Was an Extremely Difficult Decision, Says Boyd Gaming

According to the WARN Act, all employers having 100 or more employees must notify their entire workforce at least 60 days in advance of potential layoffs of 50 or more employees. Boyd Gaming said that the company wasn’t able to meet the requirement for notice because of “sudden, unforeseeable and dramatic impact.” A statement, issued by Boyd Gaming reads: “As was previously reported, in May we issued WARN Act letters advising certain team members of the possibility of layoffs in July.“

The company statement continued with: “…we are moving forward with permanent layoffs of team members who were still on furlough and had not been recalled to work.” Boyd Gaming further outlined that the layoffs are still on the lower end of the initially announced WARN Act letters from May. In conclusion, the company deemed the layoffs as an extremely difficult decision.

Other States Also Consider Casino Employee Layoffs

Elsewhere, in New York, thousands of casino employees have already received notice about layoffs. Some 4,000 or more employees of Vernon Downs, Tioga Downs, Resorts World New York City and Rivers Casino Resorts World Catskills were notified that they will be laid off. Similar to Nevada, New York also introduced temporary closures of entertainment businesses including casinos back in mid-March.

While back in March, employees were only furloughed, given that the COVID-19 pandemic is not going away, the employers have sent WARN letters to their employees. Statement issued by Resorts World reads: “Unfortunately, several weeks after ceasing operations in March, we were forced to make the difficult decision to furlough some of our employees.” The statement continues with: “As part of that process, we are now required by law to issue WARN letters to the furloughed staff.“

Keeping in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic is yet to withdraw, it looks like the gaming industry in the US will need significant time to recover. A research by Fitch Ratings, published in mid-June said that the gaming industry will need a few years to recover. According to the paper, it would be 2023 once the industry has recovered from the impact of COVID-19.