Boyd Gaming is to permanently lay off 284 employees at two downtown Las Vegas properties, citing a more prolonged than expected impact from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19)
The operator will make 168 staff members at the California Hotel and Casino redundant as of 13 November, along with 116 at Main Street Station on the same date. It announced the layoffs in a letter to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation as part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
The redundancies follow a series of layoffs across Boyd’s Nevada properties, including at both the California Hotel and Casino and at Main Street Station, in July. While it didn’t reveal how many employees were laid off at this time, it said the number fell on the lower end of the range of 25% to 60% of employees that it had provided to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation in May.
Boyd said it was forced to make these additional layoffs as the effects of the pandemic appear longer-lived than initially expected.
“Like many businesses across the country and in our industry, Boyd Gaming continues to be significantly affected by the impacts of Covid-19,” it said. “When the Covid-19 pandemic began earlier this year, we hoped that the disease would be under control and that the regulatory restrictions on our operations and the sudden decrease in visitors would be short-lived.
“As we are all aware, the pandemic continues with no predictable date for its end. Government and regulatory restrictions on our business remain in force and continue to evolve along with the pandemic. The economy continues to struggle and extended travel-related restrictions are preventing many customers from visiting our properties.”
At the California Hotel and Casino, the majority of those to be laid off are in food service roles, but the layoffs also include 24 guest room helpers, 13 blackjack dealers, four floor supervisors and a variety of other gaming roles.
At Main Street Station, a larger portion of the layoffs will be in gaming, with those to lose their jobs including 15 slot floorpeople, 13 blackjack dealers, seven cage supervisors, six floor supervisors, five players’ club representatives, and four dice dealers.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made layoffs a regular event for casino operators in Nevada, with major operators including MGM Resorts, Penn National Gaming and Caesars Entertainment laying off employees, as have Marnell Gaming-owned Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Best Western-owned Casino Royale and Circus Circus Hotel & Casino.