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Hundreds of Indiana hotel workers are being laid off

Posted at 8:32 PM, Jul 20, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-20 20:32:28-04

INDIANAPOLIS — Hundreds of Indiana hotel workers are being laid off, according to the company running hotels like the Marriott and the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

Nearly 700 workers, part of the White Lodging Services Company, are now laid off in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.

RTV6 reached out to the manager at the JW Marriott and they said they recently reopened on July 9 bringing people back to work after a three-month temporary closure. Officials said that as more travelers start to venture back to downtown Indianapolis for business and leisure, they'll be able to bring more people back to work.

According to the letter from White Lodging Services Company filed with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the layoffs are due to the "unforeseeable, dramatic, and continued downturn in business and occupancy" stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the severe travel restrictions that have been imposed. The company said in the letter employees were furloughed for three months but that company officials did not initially anticipate the pandemic would last as long as it has.