Coronavirus: Austin Hotels Cut Nearly 840 Jobs

AUSTIN, TX — The first batch of layoff notices prompted by coranavirus-caused work stoppages sent to state regulators became publicly available on Tuesday — a compilation that includes nearly 840 jobs losses in the Austin hospitality industry.

Up to now, anecdotal evidence had emerged related to layoffs caused by the shutdown of businesses in adherence to physical distancing provision to avert spread of the COVID-19 virus. A tally from the Texas Workforce Commission dramatically illustrates the toll across a wide swath of Texas, from Bexar to Williamson counties, with more than 4,080 layoffs reported to regulators from March 16-30.

The notices are in adherence to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a 1988 U.S. labor law which protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs of employees.

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Travis County has hardly been immune to coronavirus-caused layoffs as illustrated by the newly released filings from the Texas Workers Commission. Four Austin hotel companies notified regulators to a collective 839 worker layoffs:

• Dyn 365 dba Restaurant 365, reporting 95 layoffs to regulators on March 27.
• Austin Hotel and Residences, with 194 layoffs reported on March 23.
• Four Seasons Hotel-Austin, 369 layoffs reported March 23.
• Sydell Hotels LLC, 181 layoffs reported on March 16.

Patch formally requested accompanying correspondence from the reporting companies to ascertain the reason for the layoffs. Here is what officials wrote in part to explain the job cuts:

• "Unfortunately, the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 has negatively and immediately impacted the restaurant industry on which this company relies," an official with Santa Ana, California-based Dyn 365 wrote to regulators. "In cities, counties and states across the United States, orders have been issued to close or severely limit the business of restaurants. Consequently, these unprecedented and unforeseeable circumstances have caused the company to implement permanent reductions in force that will impact a large number of employees companywide in all locations," the official continued. Among the company's sites impacted is one at 9050 N. Capital of Texas Highway from where the 95 layoffs will be implemented, the company representative wrote while noting the office itself will not be closed.
• "Please accept this letter as notification on behalf of Proper Austin HM, LLC that due to the unforeseeable, unanticipated and substantial reduction in business levels resulting from the sudden and widespread impact of an infectious disease pandemic known as coronavirus disease 2019, employees at Austin Hotel and Residences located at 600 W 2nd Street, Austin, TX. 78701, will be furloughed starting on or about March 23, 2020. Austin Proper Hotel and Residences' business will be severely impacted for the foreseeable future," an official from that company wrote state regulators.
• "Please accept this letter as notification on behalf of Four Seasons Austin Management, Inc. that due to the unforeseeable, unanticipated and substantial reduction in business levels resulting from the sudden and widespread impact of an infectious disease pandemic known as coronavirus disease 2019, employees at Four Seasons Hotel Austin, located at 98 San Jacinto Blvd. Austin, TX, will have a reduction in work hours or will be placed on temporary layoff starting on or about March 23, 2020," an official from that hotel company wrote. "While the hotel continues to operate, our bar, restaurant, fitness center, and spa will be closed for business for the foreseeable future."
• "On behalf of Sydell Hotels LLC, we regret to inform you that we have decided to conduct layoffs at LINE Austin, located at 111 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701 effective March 16, 2020 due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19," an official at Sydell wrote. "This decision was not an easy one and the company reviewed all options available before deciding to conduct these layoffs at the property."

The local job cuts are just the tip of the iceberg in an exodus of jobs transcending the hospitality industry. According to the Texas Workforce Commission list, 4,083 workers were cut across the state in the aforementioned time period as a result of work stoppages. City orders across the state have mandated closure of myriad facilities in an effort to prevent gatherings in an effort to mitigate the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus that is transmitted via respiratory droplets emitted by those afflicted with the respiratory ailment.

In Harris County, Vacations Publications reported a 325-worker layoff while a hydraulic fracturing facility in Midland reported the forced cut of 388 jobs. San Antonio's famed Riverwalk has been impacted as well, with the Embassy Suites and Wyndham hotels reporting collective 182 jobs cuts between them, 41 for the former and 141 for the latter, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.