Vail Resorts plans to lay off 14% of corporate workers within 2 years

DENVER (KDVR) — Broomfield-based Vail Resorts announced to investors on Thursday that it would lay off 14% of its corporate workforce and under 1% of its operations workforce.

The layoffs are part of a two-year “Resource Efficiency Transformation Plan” that the company said will improve organizational effectiveness and help the growing company scale for operating leverage. The company told investors it expects $100 million in annual cost efficiencies to be realized by the end of the 2026 fiscal year.

Vail operates 42 mountain resorts across four countries, including five in Colorado: Breckenridge Ski Resort, Vail Mountain Resort, Keystone Resort, Beaver Creek Resort and Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

The company said in its financial performance summary, filed on Thursday, that it has employed 7,600 year-round employees and during fiscal year 2024, employed about 44,900 seasonal employees.

The company also said that during the past 10 years, it’s grown from owning 10 mountain resorts to 42, and has invested over $2 billion into the guest and employee experience, according to an investor release.

“No matter how big or small the impact of position eliminations, we do not take lightly any decision that affects our team members,” said Vail Resorts CEO Kirsten Lynch in an investor release. “Our team members are the core of our mission to create an Experience of a Lifetime, and we have tremendous gratitude for their passion and commitment to our mission, our mountains, and our guests.”

The company said the layoffs are focused on “management structure and back-end support structure,” and only 0.2% of frontline roles will be affected. The company also said it would give affected employees the option to apply for open roles within the company.

“We believe this is a natural progression and next step for our company, that builds upon our success and paves the way for the next phase of growth,” said Lynch. “Our mission: to create an Experience of a Lifetime for our employees and our guests, galvanizes our company, as does our commitment to reinvesting for growth.”

Part of the layoffs were spurred by Vail Resorts’ recent implementation of Workforce Management technology, which it said was deployed at North American resorts to provide “frontline managers with the tools and data insights needed” to assign employees based on demand and guest experience.

“The tool also gives frontline team members visibility, access, and cross-training for available shifts in-resort and network-wide,” the company touted in its investor release.

In a presentation for investors published on Vail Resorts’ website, the company said it will be optimizing resort staffing to “elevate guest service, employee experience and labor efficiency.”

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