MGM Resorts International plans to fire 18,000 workers, about a quarter of its employees, as travelers are no longer flocking to its casinos. Stanley Black & Decker recently told a cohort of furloughed employees they will not be brought back. Yelp and the Cheesecake Factory also are among companies that are permanently trimming their labor force as they adjust to the reality of a smaller economy for the foreseeable future.
Salesforce posted record sales in the second quarter; a day later, it told its 54,000 employees that 1,000 of them would be gone by 2021. Coca-Cola will buy out 4,000 of its workers and terminate others.
More than 50,000 airline jobs could disappear on 1 October if federal aid is not continued.
Manufacturing Up, Rehiring Down
While August’s U.S. factory output was the largest since November 2018, according to the Institute for Supply Management. And with employment in U.S. factories at its highest level since November 2019, the U.S. now supports about 800,000 fewer manufacturing jobs than before the COVID lockdowns began in March.
Boeing, for example, already has dispensed with 19,000 workers and has warned more layoffs might follow. Even China and Germany are still laying off factory workers despite export orders beginning to return.
TRENDPOST: Reluctance to rehire furloughed workers indicates that manufacturers lack confidence in the recovery and are waiting to see if the resurgent demand will be sustained.
