Hotels throughout the United States flooded with multiple employees at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March.
Since then, it has been apparent that the hospitality business has been among the most seriously impacted by the pandemic. Yet the sector is not recovering – and the dismissals will certainly not stop flowing.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) published the findings of a mid-September study of over 1,000 hotels. It showed that most of them are getting ready for the worse – the bulk of hotels plan to make significant cost-effective adjustments, such as placing off workers in a sector where the unemployment rate is now 38%. Any can shut indefinitely.
Almost 75 percent of the four hotels surveyed indicated that additional lay-offs were required to hold hotels operating before the end of the year without government assistance. In the meantime, 32% registered impending failure, and 42% expected dissolution by the end of the year.
Furthermore, the statistics demonstrate how complicated the coronavirus pandemic rebound remains for the hospitality industry. According to the report, about 68% of hotels run with fewer than half of their pre-COVID employees. Imminent dismissals would contribute to hospitality staff scores, which are still finding a job: 40 percent of those in February’s hotels already remain out of positions a different AHLA study from August. Much will stay unemployed until the travel demand continues to improve.
In a release, AHLA President Chip Rogers said travel demand is likely to stay stunted during the year and government assistance, including additional PPP loans or an extended Main Street Financing scheme, is the only way to encourage recovery for the hospitality sector. “Hotels are crucial components of the neighborhoods in which they operate, create healthy local economies and sustain millions of workers,” said Rogers. “Every Representative wants to hear from us that more help is desperately required to hold our doors open and get our workers back.”
