The Boca Raton, Fla. property first placed 995 total employees on furlough due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but 773 employees of the resort, Boca Beach Club and Boca Country Club will be permanently laid off effective February 6, 2021. “With current demand at only 20% of previous years’ levels, opportunities for our team members have been severely limited,” said General Manager John Carns.
Nearly a year after placing most of its employees on furlough, the Boca Raton (Fla.) Resort & Club will permanently lay off 773 employees this February, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The resort will lay off 664 hotel staffers effective February 6, 2021, according to a recently filed Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice. An additional 88 employees from the Boca Beach Club and 21 workers from the Boca Country Club will be permanently let go that day, too.
This announcement comes nine months after the Boca Raton Resort & Club first placed 995 total employees on furlough due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Business Journal reported. In July, furloughed employees were given the choice to remain on furlough indefinitely and continue to receive benefits like health insurance coverage, or leave the company.
Those furloughs were expected to be temporary, but as hotel occupancy remains at an all-time low across South Florida and the nation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, management at the 1,046-room resort decided to make those layoffs permanent, the Business Journal reported.
“With current demand at only 20% of previous years’ levels, opportunities for our team members have been severely limited,” General Manager John Carns said. “As our team has always been our priority, it has been with regret that we have had to let team members know that their positions are being affected by circumstances entirely outside their control.”
The permanent layoffs include employees from the original 995 placed on furlough in March, the Business Journal reported, as well as some currently active landscaping employees, according to the WARN notice. Twenty-six management positions are listed in this round of layoffs.
The resort’s ownership will provide severance pay for all full-time employees being laid off, as well as the long-term part-time employees affected, the Business Journal reported. Workers who have already been hired elsewhere will receive severance, too.
“Since March, we’ve been proud to provide support and health care benefits, and we’re grateful to be able to provide millions of dollars in severance as part of this decision,” Carns said.
New York-based MSD Partners closed on the $875 million purchase of the Boca Raton Resort in June 2019, the Business Journal reported. At the time, it was revealed through Fitch Ratings that the owners planned to spend $75 million over four years to renovate the property.
C+RB reported on the acquisition in April.
In June 2020, proposal documents showed the owners planned to decrease the resort’s banquet space by 76% to make room for a massive pool and amenities deck that would add pools, the Flowrider surfing simulator, slides, cafes, cabanas, a lazy river and a kid’s “splash pad.”
C+RB reported on the planned changes at the time.
Carns added that these hotel improvements could help provide new opportunities for the resort to aid in its recovery, the Business Journal reported. He did not, however, state when renovations are expected to be completed.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.