Partner Cliff Risman was quoted in the Law360 article, “Hospitality Tops All Other Sectors For COVID-19 Job Losses,” about the steep job losses the hospitality industry is facing amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Risman, co-chair of Foley’s Hospitality and Leisure Industry Team, said the losses may get worse before improving.
Risman said his hospitality clients that closed when President Donald Trump declared COVID-19 to be a national emergency are talking about how and when to reopen. Although Texas is in phase one of its reopening, Risman is not aware of any hotel in Dallas or elsewhere in the state that has reopened with anything but a skeleton staff and limited operations that serve as quarantine facilities or housing for first responders who have tested negative for the virus.
“In terms of hotel occupancy increasing, and putting furloughed or laid-off staff back to work, it’s going to take a long time,” Risman said. “The projections are that industry employment numbers will stay where they are or get worse before they get better.”
