South Seas Island Resort to lay off nearly 240 employees due to damage from Hurricane Ian
After a walloping by Hurricane Ian, South Seas Island Resort on Captiva is laying off nearly 240 employees.
In a notice to the state, Marsha Michael, the resort's director of human resources, said the damages from Ian are severe, resulting in the "cessation" of operations "for the foreseeable future."
She relayed that the layoffs began Oct. 10 and will conclude on Oct. 23.
The number of affected employees is 238.
The state requires companies to file a notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act when they plan to lay off 50 or more employees.
South Seas is the first employer to do so in Southwest Florida, in the wake of Ian.
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The resort is laying off workers across its operations.
They include 77 employees in housekeeping and laundry services and another 84 in food and beverage services.
They also impact 15 employees in recreation and 14 each in the front office and retail.
Other jobs have been lost in reservations, owner relations, human resources and administration, security and communications, and sales and revenue management.
In her letter, Michael described the reduction of employees as temporary. She did not indicate how long the resort will be closed.
The owners have vowed to rebuild the storied property, which takes up about a third of the northern tip of the 6-mile-long Captiva Island
The Timbers Co., Wheelock Street Capital and The Ronto Group jointly acquired the resort last year.
"Ironically, our one-year anniversary was the day the storm hit," said Greg Spencer, CEO of Timbers Resort. "We estimate it's going to be anywhere from $800 million to a billion to not only rebuild the property but to build it back to what the (current) standards are. We're prepared to do that."
There are challenges.
"Lenders have almost zero appetite for investing, funding projects in a hurricane zone," Spencer said. "That's something that's going to be key for us."
In the meantime, an emergency relief fund has been created for employees by the resort's leadership team.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $90,000 — toward a $1 million goal — to help workers who have not only lost their jobs but their homes and cars to Ian.
More than 350 donations have come in, ranging from $10 to $5,000.
In a post, Michele Baker, who donated $50, said she did so because she loves visiting the island and appreciates "all the time and effort by the people who work there."
"I hope that this helps to get people back to a new normal in the future," she said.
While it's too soon to estimate how many jobs have been lost across Southwest Florida, whether temporarily or permanently, due to Ian, the region's life-blood tourism industry took a big hit.
Other large hotels and resorts have yet to reopen. That could potentially trigger more mass layoff filings.
Ian may rival pandemic layoffs
After the pandemic hit in 2020, Florida's official layoff registry showed more than 3,600 permanent or temporary job cuts in Lee and Collier counties by larger employers.
The businesses reporting layoffs or furloughs included retail shops, restaurants, resorts and rental car agencies, due to a sudden drop in business not only from locals but tourists.
Many of those lost jobs came back quickly after Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to ease up on statewide restrictions that shuttered many businesses deemed "non-essential" — or severely limited their operations, allowing them to only offer delivery, carry-out or curbside services.
Hurricane Ian is a "different animal," so it's hard to draw comparisons, said Amy Hanna-Eckenrode, communications director for CareerSource Southwest Florida.
CareerSource matches job seekers with employers throughout the region. Those efforts have kicked into overdrive post-Ian.
Before the near Category 5-storm hit, the region's unemployment rate stood at 2.9% (as of August), with 18,849 unemployed residents.
Lee County had the lowest unemployment rate in the five-county region (2.7%), followed by Collier (2.8%).
Experts consider 4% full employment, as there are always workers between jobs.
Naples Daily News reporter and In-the-Know columnist Phil Fernandez contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hurricane Ian: South Seas Resort has announced mass layoffs at 238
