Mohegan Sun announced they will be laying off an undetermined number of employees as a result of the impact of COVID-19.
The company said it is ending its furlough program on Sept. 30.
Mohegan Sun President & General Manager Jeff Hamilton said this move will reduce their workforce for employees who have not been called back to work before the end of September.
The company said they are working with affected team members to find new positions. They are also offering retraining in areas of demand such as table games.
"This difficult decision came after careful consideration and was driven by the unprecedented circumstances created by the pandemic, including reduced capacity and the inability to open all of the property amenities," Hamilton said in a statement.
State Sen. Cathy Osten, who represents many of the surrounding towns, said she was told about 1,000 employees could be affected, though Mohegan Sun officials have not confirmed that number to NBC Connecticut.
“They have told me they have about 1,000 workers who were already collecting unemployment on a furlough status who will be losing their health care at the end of September," Osten said.
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Osten said because these employees were already furloughed they are already in the unemployment system, and the biggest concern is that they will lose their health care.
“Now we’re going to work with Access Health and some of the other non-profits to work with the workers to make sure that they get a form of health care through that mechanism. They will no longer get health from the tribal nation," she explained.
Osten said the two tribal nations are some of the largest employees in the state, especially in eastern Connecticut, where many jobs come from the hospitality and tourism industries and the gaming institutions. There is hope, she said, that jobs will return down the line when more restrictions are lifted.
"We’re hoping to get back to normal sometime next year but it’s really a consumer confidence issue at this point to make sure people are comfortable in large venues and I don’t think we’re there yet," she said.
