Official warnings of job cuts shoot up
Number of planned layoffs by Bay Area businesses increases tenfold in 15 days
SAN JOSE » The number of layoffs or furloughs being planned by Bay Area companies has soared by a jaw-dropping 10 times what employers reported just two weeks ago, according to state records reviewed by this news organization.
Over the 15 days that ended Friday, Bay Area employers filed notices of 18,500 planned layoffs. In comparison, just 1,300 layoffs were being planned in the Bay Area over the 15 days that ended on March 25, state Employment Development Department documents show. The notices show in particular the devastating impact the coronavirus crisis is having on the entertainment and hospitality industries.
Among the high-profile businesses affected by the latest round of proposed employment reductions: TeamSanJose, the umbrella group for the San Jose convention center and several downtown theaters; Levy Premium Foodservice, which provides services for Levi’s Stadium; the Claremont Club & Spa hotel perched high in the Oakland-Berkeley hills; the Palace and Fairmont hotels in San Francisco; Golden Gate Fields in
Albany; and Napa Valley’s Solage spa.
The steep uptick in notices from employers signals a growing economic toll in the region and across the state, after nearly 1 million California residents filed for unemployment in the last week alone, according to a U.S. Labor Department report Thursday. Roughly 1 out of every 9 California workers is now unemployed.
In the Bay Area, movie theaters, wineries, resorts, auto dealerships, hotels, restaurants, air travel-linked operations, at least one casino and a brewery all have
told state officials they have decided to eliminate workers.
Almost completely absent from the latest round of layoff notices reported to the state: the tech sector. The only tech company that revealed plans for Bay Area employment reductions in the state’s recent updates was NortonLifeLock, which planned to cut 28 positions. But the Mountain View-based company has been downsizing since last year. However, Yelp and Eventbrite this week announced layoffs and furloughs, which were not yet included in the state filings. And Tesla this week told employees to brace for pay cuts and furloughs.
One tiny ray of hope in the economic gloom that has descended on the tottering Bay Area job market: Nearly all of the layoff warnings were listed as temporary, according to the mandatory notices employers must file with the EDD.
Nevertheless, by May, unemployment could soar to 17% in the Bay Area, according to an assessment released this week by the Stockton-based Center for Business and Policy Research. Just four months ago, both California and the Bay Area enjoyed record low unemployment rates and were continuing to add thousands of jobs every month.
The largest Bay Area staffing reduction revealed in the most recent 15-day period was by TeamSanJose, which plans to temporarily lay off slightly more than 1,300 local workers. The San Jose-based organization oversees the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, the visitors bureau, the center’s South Hall, as well as the Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose Civic Auditorium, Montgomery Theater, Parkside Hall and California Theater.
“We started getting cancellations in March, and as of April 6, we had 19 convention
TeamSanJose. “The good news is that 70% of those theater performances have been rescheduled or are in the process of being rescheduled.”
However, some of the convention center workers who lost their jobs in San Jose have been brought back to help prepare meals for those in need as part of a partnership with the city, according to Chmielewski. “So we have shifted gears to help during the crisis,” she said.
The Palace Hotel in San Francisco has decided to temporarily eliminate 774 jobs. The city’s hotel industry has been hit particularly hard during the coronavirus shutdowns, but layoffs in the hospitality industry spanned the Bay Area.
Levy Premium Foodservice, which provides an array of services at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, has cut 613 jobs in what is described as a temporary closure.
Claremont Hotel Properties in the Oakland-Berkeley area is laying off 514
people at its iconic East Bay hotel and resort. Vesta Food Service in Hayward is cutting 310 positions in the second-largest layoff in Alameda County. Golden Gate Fields, which was shut
down April 2 by county officials, cut 140 positions. Meyer Sound Laboratories in Berkeley laid off 233 positions.
The largest layoffs in San Mateo County came at
Lucky Chances Casino in Colma, which has decided to cut 489 jobs, and at Rosewood Sand Hill, the Menlo Park luxury hotel and resort that is cutting 401 positions, the EDD notices showed. In Contra Costa County, the largest layoffs were the Cheesecake Factory in Walnut Creek, with 195 jobs, and California Grand Casino in Pacheco with 190 positions.
“The hotel industry has been decimated,” said Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association. “The hospitality sector, restaurants, are really taking the brunt of this.”
That was reflected in Napa and Sonoma counties, where the largest layoffs occurred at hotels and resorts. In addition to 200 positions at Napa County’s Solage resort in Calistoga, the famed Auberge du Soleil reported it would chop 220 jobs, while the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Sonoma and Hotel Healdsburg both cut about 300 positions. And in Santa Cruz, The Dream Inn and Chaminade Resort each are cutting slightly less than 200 positions.