Wynn Resorts is instituting a series of cost-cutting measures at its two Las Vegas resorts, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, that should save the company between $75 million and $100 million annually. Notably, the austerity moves won’t include layoffs among full-time employees. However, the cost reductions will hurt employee pocketbooks in other ways:

• Salaried employees will take a 10- or 15-percent pay cut, depending on their salary levels.
• Workweek for full-time hourly employees will be reduced from 40 to 32 hours.
• The company is suspending its matches to employee 401(k) accounts.
• Bonus accruals will be eliminated for 2009.

In addition to coping with slowing business throughout Las Vegas, the company is ramping up operations at Encore, the 2,034-room, $2.25-billion resort it opened in December. Following the opening, the company laid off 53 employees in its design and construction affiliate.

Compared to the rest of corporate America, Wynn Resorts is in strong financial shape with $1 billion of cash on hand and less than $400 million in debt coming due in the next two years.

And the company is apparently still filling rooms. An embarrassing situation came to light earlier this week when opaque Internet travel booker Hotwire said it had to change reservations for 300 customers who thought they had booked rooms at the Wynn Las Vegas (reportedly at rates below $100 a night) for the Valentine’s Day weekend. Following the bookings, Wynn had to inform Hotwire it erred in releasing the rooms and both Wynn and Encore are overbooked for the Feb. 13-15 weekend. Hotwire moved its customers to the nearby Trump, provided a $25 credit and offered refunds to any customer who requested one. In yet another twist, rooms for that weekend may yet become available. Wells Fargo is reportedly going to cancel a four-day meeting it booked at Wynn for that weekend. Not surprisingly, news of the meeting, which Wells Fargo says is serious business gathering and not a junket, garnered a lot of media attention since the company had received $25 billion in the first round of federal bank bailout money.