Citing trying economic times and the need to improve efficiencies across its five resorts, Vail Resorts’ CEO Rob Katz announced a number of changes on Thursday via email including 50 layoffs from the company’s 3,300 year round staff and the decision to leave 92 open positions unfilled. Other changes include pushing back merit increases for all staff from October to January, discontinuing them entirely for executives this year, suspending matches of employee 401(k) contributions, and reorganizing the company’s marketing department. This news coincides with a US Labor Department announcement that U.S. business shed 533,000 jobs in November, the biggest one month drop since 1974.

[See full article @ Transworld Business]