Mears Transportation Lays Off Employees in Orlando
If you’ve ever need a taxi in Orlando, hopped on Magical Express at the airport or used a shuttle to get from Disney World to Universal, there’s a good chance that you used Mears. The company is a huge operator of transport operations in and around Walt Disney World and buses in their fleet are often used during peak periods at Orlando International Airport for Disney’s complimentary Magical Express service.
This week, the news emerged that Mears Transportation Group, has laid off dozens of employees. According to a recent piece in the Orlando Business Journal, 104 workers have been laid off so far. These numbers were reported in three Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letters that were filed with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
According to the piece in Orlando Business Journal, the locations impacted by the layoffs are as follows:
- Corporate headquarters at 324 W. Gore St.: 74 employees were laid off in rounds on July 16, 27 and 31.
- One Airport Blvd./9202 Jeff Fuqua Blvd. Orlando International Airport: 19 employees were laid off July 31. Affected employees include those who help with the company’s shuttle and taxi operations, as well as the Disney Magical Express service.
- 3840 Vineland Road, Suite 200:11 employees were laid off July 31. Those affected include sales and customer service roles.
- Orlando-based Mears previously laid off 72 employees starting June 8 at its corporate headquarters, according to a prior WARN notice.
Roger Chapin, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs for Mears said that the company had 950 employees before the pandemic. However, due to the statewide stay-at-home-order this Spring, the company had to furlough 83% of employees back in April. He stated, “Since then, we were fortunate to see some business come back and bring some of those on unpaid leave back.” However, current reports estimate that the company now has roughly 650 employees.
Image Credit: Orlando International Airport
Mears have given notice to laid off employees that the company may be in a position to bring them back when business returns. They have even created a fast-track rehiring process for those laid-off. Services provided by Mears include shuttle and coach buses, taxis, luxury vehicles and limousines.
If you’ve been following along with MickeyBlog then you know that Orlando has been hit hard due to the pandemic. Orlando Metro currently has 215,052 unemployed with a rate of 16.5% reported for June. This was above the state average which sits at 10.7%.
This is a story that we’ll continue to follow closely her at MickeyBlog and we promise to keep you posted so keep following along with us!
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Source: Orlando Business Journal
