Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Bethesda hit by more coronavirus layoffs as lockdown continues

More Montgomery County employers are laying off workers as the coronavirus pandemic lockdown continues. In Bethesda, Uncle Julio's announced on Friday it will lay off 50 employees. Paper Source up the street is laying off 15 workers. And the Hyatt Regency Bethesda has just laid off 95 employees.

Rockville's Cambria Suites Hotel is laying off 25 people. That hits particularly close to home, as parent company Choice Hotels' world headquarters is diagonally across the street from the Cambria Suites. Also in Rockville, Miller's Ale House is laying off 74 employees.

Gaithersburg's new upscale movie theater, Cinepolis, is being hit as hard as every other shuttered cineplex as new Hollywood releases continue to be postponed. They have finally laid off 65 employees. And the Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg just laid off 57 team members.

With Covid-19 going nowhere, and with no solid medical evidence that surviving the virus gives a patient permanent or even temporary immunity, we're likely going to face continued economic pain for at least the next two years. Montgomery County's already-moribund, last-in-the-region economy is particularly hard hit, because the vast majority of what few jobs have been created here recently are in the restaurant and retail sectors.

Workers are smart enough to realize that they may want to move into sectors that won't be interrupted by this and future pandemics, or at least ones where they can be among those privileged to work from home. Expect a re-calibration of the labor market in that event, which will drive up wages for service jobs, and increase the pain further for our already-struggling restaurant and retail sectors.

Image via Federal Trade Commission

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Massive new Marriott HQ rising to the sky as we speak.

Is such trophy office space a thing of the past?

Anonymous said...

Paper Source had 15 workers? That place just sold stationery. What did 15 people do all day?

Anonymous said...

#reopen now
Stop the TDS insanity
In 1969 there was a flu from China that caused 100000 deaths in America and we continued on
Does anyone even remember seeing this in news - during Woodstock when people rolling around in mud!

Anonymous said...

10:12 AM Is part time included? I could see 15 part time workers at any retail store.

Anonymous said...

They don't all work simultaneously, genius.

Trump2020 said...

12:31 PM
If the country did practice social distancing in 1969 what are the odds the death toll would have been lower.
Are you willing to sign a DNR to get the country open? People say all true Americans should. It is said that we should all be willing to sacrifice ourselves to save the country.
Trump said he is a war time president. In war Americans die for freedom.