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MGM Resorts International to lay off 18,000 jobs, Internet blames POTUS: 'Nobody bankrupts casinos like Trump'

MGM, which employed about 70,000 full- and part-time workers at the end of last year, is laying off more than one-quarter of its pre-pandemic U.S. workforce

On Friday, August 28, financial news outlets reported that MGM Resorts International is laying off about 18,000 employees, more than one-quarter of its pre-pandemic U.S. workforce, due to the slow recovery of some casino markets. MGM employed about 70,000 full- and part-time workers at the end of last year. As per Bloomberg, the layoffs are centered in Las Vegas. However, the company is firing people nationwide. 

MGM Resorts International’s Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle said in a memo to staff: “While we have safely resumed operations at many of our properties and have returned tens of thousands of our colleagues to work, our industry -- and country -- continues to be impacted by the pandemic, and we have not returned to full operating capacity.”

MGM Resorts International is the largest operator of casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. But the company has reportedly been struggling to fill its rooms and casinos, despite the fact that the state of Nevada began reopening to the public in early June. As of yet, two of the company’s biggest casinos, the Park MGM in Las Vegas, and Empire City in New York remain closed.

As per reports, the company will continue to pay health-care benefits through the end of September 2020, and anyone recalled to work by December 2021 will maintain their seniority. 

As per reports, shares of MGM were already up on Friday, but they reached a session high after the cost-cutting announcement. The stock climbed as much as 6.4 percent to $24.27 in New York. They were down 31 percent this year through Thursday’s close.

This wasn’t missed by people, who on social media pointed out that the company ended up getting richer while its employees were left without work. One Twitter user wrote, “Between American Airlines, Delta, and MGM Resorts 39,000 people be unemployed in the next month. What's f**ked, is that investors are going to see this as a good thing and their stock price is only going to go up. The stock market isn't the economy. People are suffering. No help.”

On August 26, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines told their respective employees that the companies plan for massive layoffs in October. American Airlines will downsize 19,000 jobs and Delta plans to lay off nearly 2,000 pilots. Another Twitter user noted, “MGM Resorts' stock is up over 5% because America is a failed state and capitalism is a deadly scam.”

At the same time, people also blamed President Donald Trump for job losses. One wrote, “In case you haven't realized who gambled with the jobs of 18,000 employees of MGM Resorts,” sharing a GIF of Trump.

Another wrote, “MGM Resorts lay-off 18,000. Trump, true to form, bankrupting casinos. Who didn’t see this coming.”

Another Twitter user said, “18,000 workers at MGM Resorts to lose their jobs. Because nobody bankrupts casinos like Donald Trump.”

In 2016, the Trump Taj Mahal, the Atlantic City casino, founded by Donald Trump but no longer under his ownership, shut down after years of losses. It was taken over by billionaire Carl Icahn in 2009 when Trump Entertainment filed for bankruptcy -- a move that reportedly forced Trump to give up all of his investment in his Atlantic City casinos.