Wynn Resorts lays off 261 workers in Las Vegas, to restore hours, wages for remaining staff

Wynn Resorts lays off 261 workers in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Wynn Resorts Ltd. on Tuesday laid off 220 hourly and 41 salaried workers from its two Las Vegas hotel-casinos, CEO Steve Wynn said.

Wynn told The Associated Press the cuts were made after some workers expressed support for layoffs instead of wage and hour reductions. The company cut wages and hours 18 months ago, and were meant to be temporary, he said.

“It became a morale issue,” Wynn said.

Wynn says 2,300 hourly workers who want to work full time but were reduced to 32 hours per week will have their hours restored. Wynn said 1,400 workers earning less than $200,000 per year who took 15 percent pay cuts will have their salaries restored.

Wynn said the moves will add $7.7 million to the company’s payroll. Without the layoffs, restoring the hours and salaries would have cost nearly $10 million.

Wynn, who had avoided layoffs until now, said he decided to review the company’s payroll after a worker told him two months ago that he might lose his house because his hours had been cut.

Wynn said the layoffs come after each department was reviewed three times, in hopes of avoiding further layoffs. The cuts amount to less than 3 percent of the work force at the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas resorts. The cuts were made based on merit, Wynn said.

“We did the best we can and that’s the end of the conversation,” Wynn said.

Wynn said the moves will make 3,700 workers happy at a steep price.

Wynn Resorts, which also owns two properties in Macau, earned $27 million, or 22 cents per share, during the first quarter. That’s compared with a loss of $33.8 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.

Growing success in Macau has helped the company cope with tough times for tourism in Las Vegas.

Wynn said it had $34.5 million in operating losses in Las Vegas during the quarter, including $78.9 million in depreciation and amortization costs. Its operating losses in Las Vegas during the first quarter of 2009 were $58.4 million.