Marriott International could lay off up to 673 workers from its Bethesda headquarters on Fernwood Road next month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a notice filed Thursday.
Marriott filed a notice of the layoffs under the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires some employers to give advance notice of business closures and mass layoffs.
According to the notice, the layoffs take effect Oct. 23 and are due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are about 4,000 corporate employees who work at Marriott’s Bethesda headquarters.
Ben Gerow, a Marriott spokesman, confirmed to Bethesda Beat in an email on Thursday that the dislocation notice is for layoffs and not furloughs. In a separate phone interview, he declined to comment further, referring a reporter to the WARN notice.
Marriott announced at the beginning of the health crisis in March that it would be furloughing tens of thousands of workers due to the pandemic. At that time, the company stated that furloughed employees would be able to keep some of their benefits while they weren’t working.
On May 27, Marriott issued a press release stating that furloughs and reduced work-week schedules that started in April would be extended through Oct. 2.
In June, WARN notices for hundreds of layoffs at a number of Montgomery County Marriott hotels and some at the headquarters were filed, all stating that the layoffs were retroactive to dates in March and April. It was not clear if those were layoffs or furloughs.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media