Aramark cutting more than 550 jobs at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City Convention Center
Food service contractor Aramark will permanently lay off more than 550 workers at Kauffman Stadium and the Kansas City Convention Center, the company recently informed state regulators.
While the Kansas City Royals did play at the K this season, they did not bring back fans because of safety concerns with the coronavirus pandemic.
In its notification, Aramark, which operates concession services at the stadium, said the pandemic continued to present “unprecedented disruption to our business.” The company said it would permanently lay off or extend temporary layoffs for nearly all of its workers assigned to the K.
“Kauffman Stadium just informed us that it does not anticipate business improving in full for an undefined period of time and will only need our services in a limited capacity, if at all, during this time-period,” the company said.
The company will lay off 512 hourly employees at the K, a mix of union and nonunion workers. Another eight salaried workers will be laid off and 48 hourly workers will have their hours cut.
The layoffs affect a wide range of employees, including security workers, cooks and warehouse workers.
Aramark spokesman David Freireich said the company expects the cuts to be temporary.
“Unfortunately, like other companies and industries across the economy impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to make some very difficult decisions,” he said. “Due to limitations on attendance at baseball games and conventions, we had no choice but to modify staffing levels at these locations.”
At Arrowhead, where the Kansas City Chiefs have allowed limited fan attendance, Aramark staff continue to work at limited capacity, Freirich said.
In May, the Royals cut pay for top executives in order to avoid cutting employees, as many other MLB franchises did. The Royals’ baseball operations department includes 218 employees, including executives, scouts, coaches, trainers and minor-league player development staff.
At the Kansas City Convention Center, Aramark will lay off 57 employees and cut the hours of 10 others.
Like the airline and hotel businesses, the convention industry has declined sharply as businesses postpone or cancel big gatherings.
Just last week, Cerner Corp. held its annual health conference online for the first time. It is generally one of the city’s largest conventions, drawing an estimated 14,000 people to downtown Kansas City.
