St. Louis Blues Forced To Furlough Several Employees

The St. Louis Blues held off for quite some time by paying their employees. However, with the current uncertainty, tough decisions had to be made.

While the NHL is still hoping to return to some form of action, the St. Louis Blues reached the tipping point as far as their own finances go. The team was forced to furlough several employees.

The Blues actually lasted quite some time while still giving some form of payment to the majority of their employees up until this point. However, the continued uncertainty forced their hand.

The Blues will furlough, i.e. release from employment for an undetermined time, several of their full-time staff according to multiple reports. There was no number given by Blues president of business operations, Chris Zimmermann or any of the media outlets.

Those employees retaining their jobs, as of right now, will take a 20% paycut. The Blues and all their ancillary groups are trying to figure out how to stay afloat.

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Many in the public sphere say this person or that ownership group are all millionaires and can afford to pay up. The truth is they can’t without going broke themselves and taking away the ability to re-hire these people in the future.

Having worked for a company that had to furlough 95% of its staff, these are definitely confusing times when it comes to finances. For example, in your brain it doesn’t quite mesh that workers can’t get paid but that company can still sponsor things on the radio.

However, even with the advertising taken out of it, businesses have to find ways to keep themselves afloat. Sadly, cutting costs, for however long, is part of that process.

The problem the Blues run into is, even if the NHL does return and finish the season and have a Stanley Cup playoff, there is no knowing when events will actually feature fans. That does not just include hockey games.

With current restrictions in place, there are no sporting events, concerts, plays or comedy events at either Enterprise Center or Stifel Theater. The simplest way to put it is paying employees is money going out the door with zero coming in and no hope of any money coming in the future.

Fortunately, the Blues are still doing what they can for these people. All furloughed workers will still receive full health benefits and also be eligible for the team’s assistance fund, which was set up over a month ago in a joint effort with the players. That’s in addition to whatever assistance the state can provide.

My heart goes out to these particular Blues employees. Having gone through something similar, the unknown is an odd place to be.

Hopefully they can find ways to get through, whether that means a new job or getting by until the Blues bring them back. Hopefully the Blues can get back into a good financial state as well, so that none of these furloughs are made permanent.