Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago to lay off 130
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) – Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago has announced plans to reduce its workforce. In a notice to the state, the casino says 127 team members will be permanently laid off beginning in mid-September.
While the company says the layoff will be permanent, Ameristar expects the facility to remain open.
Ameristar says the layoffs are the result of COVID-19-related business circumstances.
“The impact on our business was not reasonably foreseeable until now. We simply could not foresee, that the initial closures of our properties, that were issued by one or two states for a limited period of time, ultimately spread throughout all the states in which we operate and eventually be extended, interrupting almost all business and travel temporarily. The significant drags on our business will likely continue for the foreseeable future,” stated Christy Rodriguez, Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago director of human resources.
The company says it could not have anticipated when its properties would be allowed to reopen and how restrictive the new operating conditions would be, and the negative impact it would have on its business volumes.