Marriott Timeshare, Like Wyndham and Westgate, in Cutback Mode

Following the same path of Wyndham Vacation Ownership timeshare and Westgate Resorts timeshares, Marriott Vacation Club has laid off (or is in the process of letting go) just over 170 workers.

The pink slips started showing up just before Christmas at the Orlando timeshare call center, marking the second recent round of employee layoffs at Marriott timeshare. In November, approximately 80 timeshare employees were let go by the company, which claims it is being hurt by the credit crunch less than other timeshare companies have been. At that time, The Orlando Business Journal reported that Marriott timeshares anticipates rehiring as many as 31 positions during the process of closing one timeshare sales operation (the Horizons project) and expanding at another location.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Ed Kinney, Marriott’s vice president of corporate affairs, said that because Marriott does much of its own financing, they were not being squeezed as tightly by the tight international credit market and slowed consumer spending as are some timeshare developers.

Kinney says the current round of layoffs should be complete in January. Other timeshare companies cutting back and laying off in Orlando and elsewhere include: Wyndham Vacation Club, Westgate Resorts timeshare, and Bluegreen Resorts.