COVID-19 caused many land-based casinos to close their doors in March and Caesars Entertainment Corp. announced it will be furloughing most of their workforce. Caesars employs 64,000 people across 53 properties, and 90% of employees will be furloughed until further notice.
Those furloughed were paid two weeks' salary when the casinos closed and health insurance for workers is still active until June 30, pending the reopening of the land-based venues, seven of which are in Las Vegas. The workers will remain the company’s employees and will be able to use the paid time off once the two-week salary expires.
Caesars CEO Tony Rodio explained the actions as a way to keep the company strong while the lockdown continues. “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,” he said.
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has prolonged the lockdown of casinos in Nevada until at least the end of April.
Caesars is not the only casino to be subjected to extreme measures as MGM reportedly furloughed 60,000 employees. Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO, remarked that big companies should be more active and do more for their employees, especially during such a difficult situation.
He said: “There are certainly great stories of corporate America doing all it can to support employees’ needs during a time when so many of our fellow Americans have been asked to stand down from their work. But we employers, especially larger ones, can do more. We should do more.”
