Back in June, Downtown Jacksonville’s biggest hotel announced it was shedding 200 workers – more than 100 of them described as permanent layoffs - because, the hotel said, a huge drop in travel appeared to be the “new normal.”
Now comes another layoff filing, with more job losses described as permanent.
The Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront hotel has informed the state of 24 layoffs that became effective on August 27. Two of the layoffs are permanent, while 21 are considered temporary layoffs without employment benefits, and one is an extension of a temporary furlough with benefits.
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“With such a significant reduction in our business in a rapidly evolving situation, we have to make painful choices that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago,” Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront General Manager Joe Hindsley wrote.
Those affected include servers, managers and administrators.
Citing the coronavirus-related business plunge, Hindsley went on to write, “This is a partial closure; not all employees at the hotel will be impacted.”
Hindsley said extensions of government-mandated “mass gathering” bans have resulted in the cancellation of travel, conferences and events, which “resulted in the sudden and unexpected effective shutdown of much of our business.”
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
