Coronavirus-hit hospitality industry in ‘fight for survival’ as workers take brunt of job losses
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American Hotel & Lodging Assocation President Chip Rogers is raising the alarm about the hospitality industry's "fight for survival" after nearly half of all jobs lost in April were in that sector.
"When you look at the numbers and realize we had more jobs lost in industry than in retail, construction, manufacturing, education and others combined it becomes a real question of if the industry is going to survive in the short term and what it will look like in the long term," Rogers told FOX Business.
HYATT TO LAY OFF 1,300 EMPLOYEES AS PANDEMIC CRIPPLES TRAVEL
The hospitality and leisure industry lost more than 7.6 million jobs — 47 percent of all jobs lost last month because of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. News of furloughs and then layoffs have rippled through hotel chains including Hyatt, which said Monday it would lay off 1,300 employees worldwide.
Rogers said he doesn't anticipate a full recovery for the hotel industry until 2022 and predicts more job losses in May. Some hotels, like extended-stay hotels, are surviving the economic contraction, but many urban hotels that rely on business and convention guests are hit the hardest, along the with the hundreds of people they typically employ.