Hyatt implements layoffs

Hyatt Regency Saipan will be laying off some employees temporarily effective at the end of April, but some positions are suspended as early as today, April 16, with the assurance that those being let go will have first dibs when Hyatt resumes hiring people sometime in September.

This was announced in a letter signed by Hyatt general manager Nick Nishikawa and given to affected employees yesterday. In the letter, Nishikawa said the measure is intended to ensure the financial stability of the company. “The current pandemic situation has impacted our business significantly and, as a result, we find that we must make some personnel decisions,” he said.

The company expects the current situation to last until Sept. 30, 2020. “However, we will reassess the circumstances regularly and may lessen or extend this time frame. We will recall laid off employees as business needs or warrant based on first, job function and then by seniority,” he added.

Nishikawa told Saipan Tribune that they have placed majority of their employees on unpaid leave status as a result of COVID-19. “Just like everyone else on island and the rest of the world, we have planned our staffing according to the business level. Our staff are aware that when business level picks up, we will be calling them back, hopefully sooner than later,” he said.

“We have assigned people to handle multiple departments so I can say that we still provide all the necessary services that we feel are essential to our in-house guests. …At the moment, we are grateful and we exist because of our Federal Emergency Management Agency contractors. We hope to continue to provide them accommodation and minimal service as we also try to keep our employees safe,” he added.

With the ongoing lease agreement negotiation with the CNMI Department of Public Lands, Nishikawa hopes that the current circumstances will not affect their discussions. “We hope that the CNMI will recognize that, as long as we are here, we will do the best we can to take care of our employees and guests. I don’t think that the Hyatt leaving at this current state of the economy is good for the CNMI,” he said.

In an earlier interview, Nishikawa said that putting people on reduced hours or out of work is the last thing that Hyatt wants to do. “We are not yet there. We still have so many things to do. …For the moment, the hotel is resorting to maximizing the revenue that is coming in. For example, if one restaurant is having good business, then we try to expand that and make money from there.”

Two months later, with zero tourists coming in, the inevitable happened for Hyatt.

Nishikawa in the letter also said that Hyatt will be regularly communicating with laid-off employees and encourages them to seek unemployment assistance. “You may be eligible for the Pandemic Unemployment Program under these circumstances. …Contact the CNMI Department of Labor for information,” he said.

In the event a laid-off employee finds an alternate job during this period and does not intend to return to Hyatt, just give their Human Resources Department notice.

As for Club of the Hyatt members, Nishikawa said that Hyatt will extend the number of months and days that they are unable to provide service.

“My message to my team yesterday was that we will take care of things while they are out but I will wait for them to come home soon,” Nishikawa added.