Puerto Rico to Lay Off Nearly 17,000 Workers

Puerto Rico’s government said 16,970 public workers will receive pink slips on or before Nov. 6, as part of an effort to close the gap on Puerto Rico’s $3.2 billion deficit.

It’s unclear as to the impact of the layoffs on the tourism sector, which has been hard hit this year with plummeting air and cruise numbers. Puerto Rico’s airports and cruise ports, as well as its tourism marketing organization, are government operations.

This will be the second round of layoffs in Puerto Rico this year, following a cut of 8,000 jobs in May. Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate hit 15.8 percent in August, the highest recorded for the month in 16 years, and the new layoffs are expected to push the rate to 17 percent.

Carlos Garcia, president of the Government Development Bank, said that the current layoffs involve workers across many agencies and departments. He called the action necessary “to prevent the government from shutting down and sinking the island’s credit.”

In response to the announcement, union leaders are calling for an island-wide strike on Oct. 15. “The new round of layoffs is unacceptable,” said Jose Rodriguez, president of the Puerto Rico Workers Federation.

Through June, Puerto Rico reported 694,131 tourist arrivals, a drop of 5.9 percent over the first half of 2008. Cruise arrivals were down 5.7 percent in the first half of the year, according to figures supplied by the Caribbean Tourism Organization.