CSULB shops lay off nearly 600 employees as university goes online amid coronavirus spread

Nearly 600 employees – mostly students – were laid off at Cal State Long Beach shops this week after the university moved to all online classes for the rest of the semester amid coronavirus concerns, officials said Wednesday.

The 49er Shops, a nonprofit that operates on campus but is independent of Cal State Long Beach, said in a statement it has closed all of its retail locations after the university suspended face-to-face classes effective March 12.

The 578 employees, including 506 students, were informed Monday of the layoffs, university spokesman Jeff Cook said. Of those laid off, 23 were full-time employees, said Rosa Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the 49er Shops.

“Although draconian by any standard,” Robert Dewit, the 49er Shops’ general manager and CEO, said in a Wednesday statement, “this was a measured response to allow affected personnel to obtain unemployment since there was no work (until) the fall semester.”

The layoffs were effective Tuesday, March, 24, Hernandez said, adding that the employees recieved at least two weeks pay for when they weren’t working.

There are 100 remaining employees, she said.

The 49er Shops include the campus bookstore and restaurants, including the Outpost and Nugget Grill & Pub.

News of the layoffs come one day after university officials confirmed that two students have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The 49er Shops operate like a traditional business. So when the campus’s 38,000 students and 5,000 faculty members transitioned to online classes, Dewit said, “it impacted all of our operations, with student traffic virtually disappearing.”

For many students, working at the 49er Shops is their first job. But the organization also has employees that have worked for many years, the 49er Shops said.