Hyatt to lay off 1,300 employees as pandemic cripples travel

Hyatt Hotels Corp said late Monday it would lay off 1,300 people globally as it tries to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has virtually halted global travel by keeping people indoors.

Hyatt said it had also cut pay for senior management, board members and all employees as part of a restructuring, adding that the staff who were being laid off would be eligible for receive severance pay, Reuters reported.

“Due to the historic drop in travel demand and the expected slow pace of recovery, Hyatt has made the extremely difficult decision to implement layoffs and restructure roles across its global corporate functions, beginning June 1, 2020,” Hyatt said in a statement.

The hotel chain reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss last week and suspended its dividend and share buyback programme. It had 55,000 employees as of Dec. 31, 2019, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

The hotel industry is estimating a loss of $1.4 billion in revenue every week on account of the outbreak and a 30 per cent drop in hotel occupancy over a year, according to statements from the American Hotel and Lodging Association and the US Travel Association in March.