MGM Resorts FIRED 4 Hotel Presidents
VegansTimes-Updated May 1, 2020 - 4:30 pm
MGM Resorts International has reportedly laid off several high-level executives in sweeping moves Friday, including a quartet of hotel presidents.
Sources familiar with the company’s moves indicate that resort presidents Randy Morton of Bellagio, Cindy Kiser Murphey of New York-New York, Cliff Atkinson of Luxor and Eric Fitzgerald of Excalibur have all been laid off. Sources also said other management-level positions had been cut across the company.
MGM spokesman Brian Ahern did not respond to a request for comment.
On Thursday, acting MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle said in an earnings call that two of those hotels — Bellagio and New York-New York — would be the company’s first to reopen from the pandemic-related shutdown. He offered no timetable.
These aren’t the first job cuts at MGM since U.S. c-sinos have shuttered their doors. The company has laid off and furloughed 63,000 workers over the last few weeks in an effort to preserve liquidity.
The company revealed Thursday that it’s burning about $270 million in cash each month its domestic properties remain closed.
The layoffs likely signal MGM is moving toward a revised leadership strategy, with one president overseeing multiple properties, said Josh Swissman, founding partner of Las Vegas gaming and hospitality consulting firm The Strategy Organization.
“In the short term, that makes sense because of the phased opening approach and because of the … lower demand that everyone’s expecting,” he said.
While the job cuts would help reduce cash burn immediately, Swissman added that they could also help MGM operate more efficiently in the long-term.
“It would be interesting to see what happens as business volumes ramp back up,” he said. “That will be really when the rubber hits the road as far as this new leadership move goes.”
The news comes the same day Station C-sinos announced that it would be laying off a “significant” portion of both property and corporate employees.
“This continues to show the pressure that the gaming and hospitality industry is facing during unprecedented and uncertain economic times, with no time table in place for moving forward,” said Brendan Bussmann, a partner at gaming consulting firm Global Market Advisors.
Nevada c-sinos initially closed on March 18. On Thursday, Gov. Steve Sisolak once again extended the state’s business shutdown through May 15, when “Phase 1” of reopenings are set to begin.
He added that c-sinos will “not be opening at the start of Phase 1.”
“The longer this goes on, the more struggle each of these companies face in their long-term survival,” Bussmann said. “I think every (c-sino) company is sitting there evaluating how they can reduce their daily burn. … They’re making their own decisions along the way, knowing day-by-day conditions are changing.”