Photo via Wikimedia Commons/travelarz.
Enterprise Holdings has laid off over 2,000 employees in Missouri, most of them will be permanent. Layoffs began Thursday.
The layoffs were posted as notices on the state of Missouri website under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act).
The layoffs affect workers with the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands, as well as Enterprise Fleet Management.
The layoffs affect multiple locations, including the corporate offices in Clayton, the EAN contact center in St. Louis, and multiple branches throughout the state. The listings are specific only to Missouri.
The workers include numerous employee types, including IT, call center employees, accounting, customer service, marketing, training, car sales, and local agency staffs.
Each post was accompanied by a letter from Enterprise to the WARN coordinators documenting the actions.
The letter reads, in part:
As a result of a series of unforeseen local governmental shutdown orders and federal and CDC guidance recommending social distancing surrounding the coronavirus natural disaster, Enterprise Holdings experienced a dramatic downturn in business.
Enterprise did not believe there was a reasonable probability the downturn would last more than six months; indeed, it was Enterprise’s belief the downturn would last approximately one month. However, in light of the recent extension of applicable governmental shutdown orders, … Enterprise has realized that additional action is necessary. Such additional action includes permanent terminations of employees, including of some employees who had previously been placed on temporary layoff. …
At this time, this mass layoff is expected to be permanent.