Sept. 27–STAMFORD — As Stamford-based Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide embarks on a new era as part of an expanded Marriott International, some local business leaders are concerned that the merger could lead to the firm's eventual departure from the city.
Marriott completed last week its approximately $13 billion acquisition of Starwood, a move that created the largest hotel company in the world. But the absorption of Starwood into Marriott means that Starwood's base at One StarPoint will no longer operate as a corporate headquarters because Marriott is based in Bethesda, Md. The emergence of that new structure will likely have a major impact on Starwood's approximately 700 Stamford-based employees, according to some observers of the company.
"They're going to move — it's not going to make sense for them to have two of everything," said Jack Condlin, president and CEO of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce. "They'll consolidate, and there will be layoffs. There are going to be people who will lose their jobs."
Condlin said that he based his predictions on previous public statements made by Marriott and conversations during the past year that he has had with some Starwood employees.
Marriott officials have said that they would maintain a presence in Stamford for the foreseeable future, but they have not outlined specific plans.
"We will begin to explore longer-term options and needs now that we have completed the acquisition," Marriott officials said in a statement to Hearst Connecticut Media. "When we announced the merger in November 2015, we said that there would be some duplication of functions — mostly at the corporate level. While we don't have an exact number of jobs that will be impacted in Stamford at this time, we will know more about staffing decisions as we continue the integration process."
When they announced Sept. 23 the completion of the acquisition of Starwood, Marriott executives did not mention the long-term outlook for Starwood's Stamford operations.
Starwood has been based in Stamford since 2012, when it moved from White Plains, N.Y.
Joe McGee, vice president of public policy for The Business Council of Fairfield County, expressed disappointment about Starwood losing its headquarters status. Starwood has been a strong corporate citizen in the city, he said.
"Whenever you lose a headquarters, that's never a good day," McGee said. "You've got the talent of their senior staff, and they have always been very engaged in the community. I hope they keep some of their operations here in Stamford."
City officials have taken a similar position, saying that they hoped that the company would maintain at least some staff in the city, including in the digital marketing and IT divisions.
While they review their newly acquired Stamford offices, Marriott executives are looking for a new headquarters in the Washington, D.C., area. About 4,000 Marriott employees are based in Bethesda and in satellite offices in the surrounding area. Marriott's current headquarters lease runs until 2022.
Condlin said that if Starwood were to relocate employees or make layoffs, the company would handle those decisions in an orderly and responsible manner.
"What they won't do is do a mass layoff," Condlin said. "It will be over time. I'm sure they'll do the right thing. With layoffs, they'll help them find new jobs and give them a severance package. They're not going to throw people to the wolves."
Regardless of Starwood's long-term role in the new Marriott company, McGee said that he did not expect any changes to unsettle the city's economy.
"These mergers and acquisitions are a fact of corporate life," McGee said. "We have a strong corporate presence in city, and that will continue. This merger is a result of global competition. It has nothing to do with the desirability of Stamford as business location."
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