The pace of planned layoffs in the Bay Area has slowed dramatically so far in August compared with July — but job cuts continue to jolt a wide array of industries amid renewed shutdowns linked to the coronavirus, official state filings show.
Numerous Bay Area companies had attempted to hang on by using furloughs, but renewed business shutdowns have forced a growing number of employers to switch from furloughs to full-fledged layoffs, partly because they have no idea when — or how — they can reopen.
LSI-Silvercreek, which operates Leisure Sports, ClubSport, and Sportsplex fitness and athletic centers in San Jose, said it was forced to lay off 140 workers, largely due to the uncertainty created by government-imposed closures to combat the spread of the deadly bug.
“Leisure Sports was unable to gauge exactly what social distancing and other requirements the local county public health officials would impose on Sportsplex and ClubSport, if and when they permit full reopening,” the company wrote in an official notice to the Employment Development Department.
The company attempted to keep operating and paying its employees. Too many unanswered questions confronted Leisure Sports, however, and layoffs were required.
“Without clear guidance from the local county public health officials, the company was unable to predict the type of services that it would be able to provide,” Leisure Sports stated in the notice. “The company concluded that it could no longer continue the status quo of continued payroll and continued employment for employees.”
PT Gaming, which provides third-party services at casinos such as “proposition bets,” which are a kind of side bet, stated in an official notice that a recent decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom forced the company to lay off 492 workers statewide, including 328 in the Bay Area.
“The governor’s order specifically required the immediate closing of all cardrooms and does not indicate a safe return date or include an estimated time upon which a return would be viable,” Jeffrey Barney, chief administrative officer with PT Gaming, stated.
Well-known Bay Area casinos were included in the PT Gaming shutdown. Layoffs hit 99 workers at San Jose’s Bay 101 Casino, 124 at Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno, 34 at California Grand Casino in Pacheco, and 71 at Oak’s Card Club in Emeryville.
Hudson Group, which operates more than 1,000 stores in airports, told the EDD it was laying off 50 in San Jose. The company said it previously entertained high hopes of avoiding layoffs at its airport locations due to a rebound in air travel around May and June. But Hudson had to scuttle the plan.
“Initially, Hudson believed that the pandemic was going to impact business for a limited period, and employees were temporarily furloughed to adjust to the reduced levels of business in our airport locations due to the decline in air travel,” Hudson chief executive officer Roger Fordyce said in the company’s notice.
However, in recent weeks, business shutdowns resumed nationwide and in California, which caused air travel to again tumble.
Hudson decided to cut 50 jobs in San Jose, describing the layoffs as permanent.
“The new spread of the virus and the resulting travel restrictions have led to a severe reduction in air travel and business at airports, and in particular, an increasingly dramatic and sustained reduction in Hudson’s airport business,” Fordyce wrote to the EDD.
SSP America, a provider of airport food services, has decided to lay off 120 workers at San Francisco airport and 111 workers at Oakland airport.
“The resurgence of the pandemic in multiple states within the U.S., the consequent postponing of reopening plans, and the recent imposition of new quarantines on travelers, has led SSP America to now anticipate a greater and longer impact on the travel industry,” Lieske Renz, an SSP vice president, stated.
The Province, an Asian fusion restaurant in north San Jose, told the EDD it would launch temporary layoffs. The restaurant blamed the shutdown.
Among other job cuts filed with the EDD during early August:
— Marathon Petroleum said it was cutting 701 jobs in Martinez, including 674 at its Martinez Refinery and 27 at its chemical plant. The cuts will occur in October.
— Stanford University mounted job cuts affecting 238 workers, effective on Sept. 1.
Still, the pace of layoffs is clearly slowing in the Bay Area, measured by the average number of layoffs per day in the region.
An analysis by this news organization showed that the number of layoffs in the nine-county region so far in August was running at a pace of 456 a day, down 25 percent from the July pace of 609 job cuts a day.
“Only some form of reopening will decrease the layoffs,” said Michael Bernick, an attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former EDD director. “California’s continued economic lockdowns in counties continue to mean ongoing new layoffs, conversion of furloughs into layoffs, and business closures.”
