Atypical Events

Connecticut Casinos hit hard by Economic Downturn

Posted by jessie under News

Foxwoods casino in Connecticut is learning the hard way that the gaming industry is not in fact recession-proof, as they plan to lay off about 6% of their workforce in an effort to cut costs.

Among the workers being laid-off is Foxwoods CEO Patricia Irvin, a former Pentagon official and Wall Street attorney.

Irvin was on the job for less than a year before being let go. The casino plans to lay off roughly 700 workers by October 17th.

The Mashantucket Pequot tribe, who own Foxwoods, say that the layoffs will be across the board, affecting everyone from hourly employees to management positions.

The layoffs will be staggered over the next couple of weeks. Foxwoods opened its new MGM Grand expansion just four months ago, which created two thousand jobs.

Board director for the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board, John Beauregard says that this is a daunting layoff and that reabsorbtion will be a challenge in today’s economic climate.

Another Connecticut casino, Mohegan Sun, is feeling economic pain and has decided to delay the final pieces of its $925 million expansion plans. Slated for construction were a 39-story hotel, a House of Blues Music Hall and a restaurant and retail space in Uncasville. The project, which was scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2010, is less than ten percent complete and is now delayed for at least a year and will have to be reevaluated.

With the slowing of the economy, U.S. consumers have been spending less on things like travel and entertainment, opting to stay home rather than take a trip to the casino.(link) (photo)