BETHESDA, MD. — According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Marriott International Inc. is in the beginning stages of furloughing what could be up to tens of thousands of employees. The hotel chain cited travel cancellations and government travel bans due to the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak as the basis for its decision. Through a Marriott spokeswoman, the Journal reported the jobs are from hotel managers down to housekeeping. The spokeswoman said there have not been any corporate-level furloughs, but those are being discussed. According to Marriott, the Bethesda-based company employs 130,000 people nationwide.
Additionally, on Tuesday afternoon, the CEO of Marriott, Arne Sorenson, as well as CEOs from Best Western, Choice Hotels International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group, MGM Resorts, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, Universal and The Walt Disney Co. met with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in an effort to work with the federal government to protect the millions of employees working in the hospitality sector. Based on current occupancy estimates, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) says 4 million hospitality jobs have been eliminated or are on the verge of being lost in the next few weeks. The AHLA reports that the hotel industry supports one in 25 jobs in this country. According to an Oxford Economic Study, a 30 percent decline in hotel guest occupancy could result in the loss of $180 billion worth of wages and a $300 billion hit to the gross domestic product (GDP).