The Union Square Hospitality Group, one of the nation’s most prestigious restaurant companies, laid off 2,000 employees on Wednesday morning “due to a near-complete elimination of revenue,” the company said in a statement. That number represents 80 percent of the company’s total staff, at 18 restaurants in New York City, two in Washington and its corporate office in Manhattan.

Mass layoffs at other restaurant companies around the country have already begun. The chef and restaurateur Tom Colicchio also announced 300 layoffs at his Crafted Hospitality restaurant group in New York and Los Angeles.

Other big employers, like the Major Food Group and the Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurants, began layoffs last week, when employers were making the difficult calculation of whether to close altogether out of safety concerns, or remain open for takeout and delivery in order to maintain some cash flow.