SEA ISLAND -- The largest private employer in Glynn County says it will immediately begin laying off 300 to 400 employees.

Sea Island Co. said the move is being made because of faltering real estate sales and a weak national economy. The company, which operates The Cloister resort on Sea Island and The Lodge on St. Simons Island, has 2,100 employees.

The company's chairman and chief executive, Bill Jones, said the job cuts will come across all areas and all levels of the company.

The company said many of those layoffs would involved seasonal workers, who would have departed at the end of the summer.

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Information from: The Brunswick News, http://www.thebrunswicknews.com