The move follows the March 15 closure of SeaWorld’s Orlando location, one of a dozen in the U.S. that have shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The furlough period is uncertain at this time due to the temporary park closures and will be reassessed as business conditions dictate,” says the FEC filing. “The Company looks forward to welcoming back its ambassadors and guests when it is safe to open again.”
In September of last year, when the company was ostensibly doing much better financially, SeaWorld laid off 100 Orlando call-center employees, after first asking them to train their own third-party replacements in Jamaica and Guatemala.
In a March 23 letter to President Donald Trump asking for an emergency declaration, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at least 6,617 Florida businesses had laid off 40,438 people, due to the dramatic downturn in business from the crisis. At that time, the state said it expected 31,246 to be temporary and 9,192 permanent.
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This article appears in COVID-19: Orlando Reacts!.