MGM Resorts International confirmed another round of layoffs on Thursday, May 30, 2019. A letter to employees announced that 557 position were eliminated.
This second round of cuts comes after 2,054 management positions were eliminated in April 2019. In the letter to employees, MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren stated this would be the final round of layoffs.
The layoffs are part of the MGM 2020 plan, which was announced in early January 2019. It is a “strategy to reduce costs, drive margin improvement and position the company for future growth,” according to the company. The goal is to add $200 million to MGM Resorts International’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by the end of 2020 and an additional $100 million by the end of 2021.
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“The changes we are making today bring us closer to concluding the foundational work of MGM 2020, during which we streamlined our operating model and reduced our salaried staff by more than 12 percent,” Murren wrote in the letter to MGM employees. “While we will always seek opportunities to operate in the highest performing way possible, we believe that we will move into the growth chapter of MGM 2020 with a sound organizational structure.”
Employees whose positions are eliminated will be offered two weeks of non-working severance, health care coverage and career counseling services.
“I stand behind the decisions we have made and believe them necessary to assure our future, but I deeply regret the impacts they have on individuals and their families," Murren wrote.
Reached for comment, MGM Resorts International did not specify what jobs were being eliminated, such as how many of the laid off personnel were in positions such as convention service managers and sales representatives serving the meetings and events industry.
Read the letter from MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren.
