Marriott to lay off 17% of corporate staff next month

Marriott International Inc. plans to lay off 17% of its corporate workforce next month as the coronavirus continues to take a heavy toll on the hotel industry.

The Bethesda, Maryland-based company confirmed Wednesday that it will lay off 673 workers late next month. Marriott has around 4,000 employees at its corporate headquarters.

Marriott furloughed two-thirds of its corporate staff in March as hotel demand plummeted. Some of those workers are coming back to work later this month, the company said.

Marriott’s revenue plunged 72% to $1.5 billion in the April-June period as global hotel occupancy sank. Marriott says some business travel has resumed in China, and leisure travel has gained strength in the U.S., but it doesn’t know when demand will return to 2019 levels.