Layoffs, furloughs extended for hundreds of Austin-area hotel workers

The coronavirus outbreak is continuing to do damage to the Austin-area hospitality industry, as layoffs and furloughs are being extended for hundreds of workers at local hotels, according to documents filed with the state.

Layoffs or furloughs will be extended for a combined 460 employees at the Renaissance Austin Hotel, the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol and the Sheraton Austin Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center, according to WARN letters sent to the Texas Workforce Commission.

A WARN letter, which stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, is a federally mandated notice employers must provide to state governments in the event of major layoffs.

The Renaissance Austin Hotel, which is at 9721 Arboretum Boulevard, has instituted “temporary furloughs, temporary layoffs, and/or temporary reductions in hours” for all 243 of its employees, according a May 29 letter the company sent to the workforce commission.

Those furloughs and layoffs first took effect on March 21 and were expected to last less than six months, according to the WARN letter. However, the ongoing pandemic and stay-at-home orders “have caused a sudden, severe and worsening downturn in the hospitality industry that now makes it reasonably foreseeable that these temporary actions may extend beyond six months,” according to the letter.

The Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol, 701 East 11th Street, has informed 99 of its employees that their layoffs are now likely to exceed six months, according to the hotel’s WARN letter.

The Sheraton Austin Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center, at 1101 Woodlawn Avenue in Georgetown, has instituted furloughs, layoffs or reductions in hours for 118 of its 120 employees, according to the hotel’s WARN letter. The furloughs and layoffs took effect on March 21and were expected to last less than six months but have been extended due to the pandemic, according to the WARN letter.

Austin-area hotel operators had hoped to see a rebound in business as Texas has lifted some of its pandemic-related restrictions in recent weeks. In fact, the city’s largest hotel, the 1,048-room Fairmont Austin downtown, reopened on June 1.

But the hotel sector across the nation continues to struggle due to the pandemic. In April, the U.S. leisure and hospitality sector -- which includes hotels -- lost 7.7 million jobs, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As of early April, the American Hotel & Lodging Association estimated that in Texas, 64,000 jobs were at risk, out of roughly 145,600 directly tied to the industry.