Caesars Windsor Forced to Lay Off Staff
The Caesars Windsor Casino in Ontario, one of the country's most recognizable casino complexes, has announced the second wave of staff layoffs this year.
A spokesperson for the casino said that around 120 people would lose their jobs in a group that employs a total of 3,500 staff members.
The recession and other elements were blamed for the loss of jobs.
"It's certainly a combination of different issues we're dealing with," said casino spokesperson, Holly Ward. "You've got the troubled economy, combined with passport legislation and the falling US exchange rate. Those have all impacted our bottom line for several months now."
A short while back, over 80 people from the food and beverage department of the Caesars Windsor were laid off, making this the second time in 2009 that the group is letting people go.
"But that was more about restructuring," said Ward referring to the first wave of layoffs. "It was more about changing the hours of our restaurants to better reflect when we're busy. It's all shifting to the weekend. We're noticing a much lighter attendance during the week."
Ward justified the casino's decision to lay off more staff. "Today's announcement is about balancing our revenue with our expenses," she said. "We're hoping the business will pick back up and we recall some of those that were affected."
The current layoffs affect workers throughout the casino building, including in the finance, engineering, operations marketing and security divisions. In addition, those who deal with slots operations and table games were also let go.
"Layoffs are always a last resort for us," concluded Ward. "It's not something we tread into lightly. That's why we were meeting with the union later on, to make sure the number we settle on was the lowest it could possibly be."
