ST. LOUIS (AP) — Three major hotels in the St. Louis metropolitan area have told the state they are laying off or furloughing more than 900 employees after the COVID-19 pandemic crippled travel.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Clayton, laid off or furloughed 307 of the location’s 325 employees.

Hyatt Regency St. Louis permanently laid off 51 employees, furloughed 149 employees without benefits, and extended 45 furloughs with employee benefits.

The Marriott St. Louis Grand laid off, furloughed or reduced working hours for all 384 employees.

All three said the cuts were necessitated by the sudden and unprecedented economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis.

The Ritz and the Marriott told the state in letters this week they couldn’t estimate the lengths of the furloughs.

On Friday, local hotelier Lodging Hospitality Management said it would lay off more than 1,000 hotel workers. Those included five hotels in St. Louis, three in Maryland Heights, two in Chesterfield and one each in Edmondson and O’Fallon.

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