PROVIDENCE – The company that operates the Twin River casinos in Rhode Island has rehired about two-thirds of its pre-pandemic workforce, according to a spokeswoman.
Of 2,500 employees, all but 671 have been rehired. The employees who have not been brought back initially were furloughed, and were laid off Sept. 30 from the casinos by Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc.
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The laid-off employees include those assigned to two hotels, which have not reopened, as well as event and food-and-beverage staff and some dealers on the gaming floors, said Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for Twin River.
Twin River, initially impacted by the state-ordered closure of the facilities on March 14, reopened on June 8 but with limited capacity. Its hotels have not reopened, and events remain cancelled.
Although the company recently received state permission to open the casinos 24-7 on weekends, the operations are still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The facilities, in Lincoln and in Tiverton, have also been impacted by the quarantine applied to Rhode Island by neighboring Massachusetts.
“We hope and expect our rehiring will continue in the weeks and months to come,” Doyle said. “This will be driven by our ability to reopen more amenities – such as our two hotels – and a likely increase in business volume with the eventual lift of the Massachusetts quarantine.”
Revenue collected at the facility in July and August, and tracked by the R.I. Lottery, has plummeted compared to the same period last year.
For those two months this year, the first two of fiscal 2021, the facilities took in $53.7 million from the video-lottery terminals, or slot machines. This compares to $82.4 million collected in the same time frame in 2019.
Table game revenue has also fallen dramatically. The tables in Lincoln and Tiverton produced $1.5 million in July and August, compared to $3 million last year in the same period.
The revenue produced at Twin River is shared with the state of Rhode Island, and is typically the third largest revenue source for the state budget, behind sales and income taxes.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
