The Los Angeles hotel industry is experiencing its steepest job losses in a decade, outside of the pandemic, due to aggressive minimum wage mandates. According to an analysis by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) of federal labor data, Los Angeles County’s hotel and motel sector lost 1.7% of its workforce in December 2025 compared to the same period the prior year.

Minimum Wage Mandates

The City of Los Angeles increased its hotel-specific minimum wage mandate to $22.50 an hour, while the countywide minimum wage reached $17.81 an hour. The EPI noted that this is the largest year-over-year drop in the hotel industry in a decade, barring losses related to COVID.

Industry leaders have long sounded alarm bells over the Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, informally dubbed the ‘Olympic Wage’, which was heavily championed by the powerful hospitality union UNITE HERE Local 11 and enacted under Democratic Mayor Karen Bass.

A coalition of hotel operators and major airlines successfully corporate-funded a ballot initiative to completely repeal the city’s gross receipts tax, which generates over $800 million annually. To stave off fiscal disaster, the L.A. City Council voted 11–4 to officially delay the $30-an-hour mandate by two years.

Impact on Tourism

The ongoing labor friction comes at a critical juncture for Southern California tourism, with Los Angeles preparing to host high-profile international events, including the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. The American Hotel and Lodging Association warned that rigid wage policies threaten to spark a severe shortage of room availability just as international travelers flood the city.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.