Industry trade group GSMA finally admitted defeat in attempting to put on this year’s MWC Los Angeles event in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by cancelling the annual trade show that was scheduled to begin Oct. 28. The move followed a similar cancellation of GSMA’s significantly larger MWC Barcelona event in February and recent upheaval at the trade group.

“Today, in light of current government guidance, continued global concern regarding the spread and containment of COVID-19, travel restrictions, and other circumstances, and in consultation with our partner, CTIA, the GSMA announced that continuing with MWC Los Angeles 2020 is likewise, impossible,” noted GSMA CEO John Hoffman in a statement.

The trade group said it will provide more details on how it will deal with the cancellation, adding that it remains committed to running the event next year.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier this year that he did not expect the state to host any large gatherings like concerts and trade shows through a significant part of 2020.

The move was similar to GSMA’s eventual decision to nix this year’s MWC Barcelona event, which came just as the pandemic was beginning to gain significant ground in Europe. That speed forced GSMA to cancel that event just two weeks before it was set to begin. MWC Barcelona typically hosts more than 100,000 attendees each year, while the Los Angeles event is significantly smaller.

Fierce Wireless reported last week that Ericsson, which has been one of the most prominent MWC event backers, had already pulled its plans to attend the MWC LA event. Ericsson was also one of the first major vendors to back out of attending the MWC Barcelona event earlier this year.

The GSMA earlier this month cut about 200 jobs, or about one-fifth of its workforce tied to the cancellation of its MWC Barcelona and MWC Shanghai events this year.

“Reducing staff is always difficult but seems particularly unjust when market conditions outside our control drive the decisions. We are proud of our team, grateful for their work, and acknowledge that this situation is not a reflection on their work, contribution, or potential,” an MWC spokesperson wrote in an email to SDxCentral on the job cuts.

A report from Bloomberg noted that the trade group earns about 80% of its annual revenue from the Barcelona event alone. The trade group’s CMO Stephanie Lynch-Habib told the news outlet that GSMA doesn’t expect to recover from the COVID-19 crisis until 2023, and it has cut bonuses and slashed non-staff spending by about 40% this year.

The job cuts hit just one day after GSMA announced a new series of virtual events called GSMA Thrive, hinting at a reframing of events should the COVID-19 crisis extend through the remainder of 2020 and into 2021.