Hotel giant, Marriott International Inc. is permanently laying off 850 employees from its hotel in Times Square. The company recently told the workers that they will be let go March 12, nearly a year after more than 1,200 employees at the New York Marriott Marquis were furloughed as rising coronavirus infections prompted the closure of nonessential businesses and tourist spots.
New York City’s hotel industry has suffered disproportionately due to the pandemic compared with the rest of the country as travel has ceased
The New York Marriott Marquis is located in the heart of New York City’s theatre district and offers views of Times Square from its eighth-floor lounge as well as several ballrooms for large events or corporate gatherings. But the usually jam-packed neighborhood now offers little to draw hotel guests, with Broadway theatres scheduled to remain closed until June and many office workers continuing to work from home.
Hilda Salcedo, a server who has worked for Marriott hotels since 2000 and at the Times Square location since 2013, said workers haven’t been given details about possible severance packages. She said she had been preparing herself for the possibility that her job wouldn’t survive the pandemic, but the layoffs came as a shock to many of her co-workers.
“I was warning everyone, ‘Be aware, don’t be surprised if they let any of us go,’” Ms. Salcedo said. “People just kept saying, ‘No, no way.’ But I said, ‘We’re not in the union, they can do whatever they want with us. There’s no protection.’”
