Just over six months after its opening, the Playboy Club in New York City has reportedly fired half of its “Bunnies,” who had been hired to serve drinks and wait tables, and significantly slashed the remaining workers’ pay.
A source insinuated to “Page Six” that management focused more on women’s appearances than their qualifications for the job when hiring prospective Bunnies, and then failed to give them adequate training. But, instead of trained the women in basic hosting skills, the company laid off half of the Bunny staff and essentially demoted the rest.
“They have been stripped of their duty to wait on tables because they cannot do service,” a source said, adding that the remaining women had their pay slashed from $40 an hour to $25 an hour. “Bunnies are now allowed only to run drinks.”
Furthermore, a source told “Page Six” that new management was brought in to help with the transition, and new servers were hired. As to whether any of the old management staff were fired like the Bunnies, though, is unclear.
A spokesperson for club insisted that Playboy only has the best intentions for its employees. In a statement to “Page Six,” the spokesperson said that Playboy is “committed to creating a great experience for [its] growing number of members and dinner guests, as well as being a great place to work for all of our employees.”
Perhaps the recently unemployed Bunnies — as well as the remaining ones, who are now making a little over half of their initial wage in one of the most expensive cities in the world — would dispute this statement.