A restaurant group run by industry giant Danny Meyer laid off 2,000 members of staff on Wednesday, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Union Square Hospitality Group announced that 80 percent of its workforce had been fired in their New York and Washington DC locations.

The group has a Manhattan office and runs 20 restaurants between the two areas, including famous locations Gramercy Tavern and Blue Smoke.

The company told the New York Times that the decision was made “due to a near-complete elimination of revenue.”

Mr Meyer added that "in the absence of income, restaurants simply cannot pay our non-working team members for more than a short period of time without becoming insolvent. In that scenario, no one wins."

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The New York Times report that Meyer will donate his salary and the group are selling gift cards, where all the proceeds will be donated to an employee relief fund.

Employees were told that the layoffs were made in order for them to apply for unemployment during the crisis.

Mr Meyer, who is the chief executive officer of the Union Square Hospitality Group, won the Black Box Intelligence Workplace Legacy Award in 2018.

In their press release at the time, the organisation wrote that the award is presented to those who can demonstrate that "their employees, organizations and communities have benefited from their leadership."

Meyer wrote in the release that "working to become an outstanding business leader, also known as an employer of choice, is a never-ending journey. I do believe that path is the single most motivating reason I go to work each day and this honor feels especially gratifying."

Meyer's group are not the only organisation to have laid off staff in the past week and the New York Times report that restaurateur Tom Colicchio and his Crafted Hospitality group announced 300 layoffs at their New York and Los Angeles locations.

Some 5,000 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded so far in the US, and 94 deaths.