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The Hartford Marriott Downtown, the Hilton Hartford, and the Sheraton in Windsor Locks have put the Connecticut Department of Labor on notice about layoffs and reduced employee hours planned for this month. Many companies are required by Connecticut law to inform the state’s Dislocated Worker/Rapid Response Team prior to mass layoffs.
It is unclear if the layoffs or cut hours will be permanent.
In letters to the Rapid Response Team, each hotel management firm pointed to the negative impact of COVID-19, subsequent stay-at-home, and social distancing orders have had on the hotel industry.
Nick Lorusso, general manager of the Hilton Hartford, said Governor Ned Lamont’s Administration could not provide enough certainty about the pace of reopening the economy to stave off staff cuts any longer.
“As things have developed,” Lorusso said in his letter to the state, “we are only now beginning to see the true impact of COVID-19 on the hotel’s business operations presently and into the future, which is much more detrimental than originally anticipated.”
Hotels across the nation have lost an estimated $40 billion in room revenue since mid-February, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, a trade group.
Here is a count of how many employees are facing layoffs or reduced hours at each of the hotels. Some layoffs and reduced hours have already been implemented:
Hartford Marriott Downtown (WHG ALH Management)
Employee layoffs: 182
Employees with reduced hours: 21
Total employees impacted: 203.
Sheraton Bradley Airport Hotel (WHG RK Bradley Management)
Employee layoffs: 78
Employees with reduced hours: 13
Total employees impacted: 91
Hilton Hartford (315 Trumbull Street Associates)
Employee layoffs: 124
Employees with reduced hours: 30
Total employees impacted: 154
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