Job fairs, recruitment drives the order of the day

Casinos across the Las Vegas Valley are ramping up their recruitment drives, with travelers returning en mass to Sin City and capacity limits potentially increasing on May 1.

MGM Resorts International is hosting job fairs every Wednesday, with the Las Vegas Review-Journal reporting that the operator hired over “100 people on the spot” at last week’s event. The company shared details of the Sin City work opportunities in its latest MGM Minute video update on April 19:

Circus Circus Hotel and Casino on the Northern Las Vegas Strip is also on the recruitment trail, calling for potential employees to visit its job fair last week via Facebook. Circa Resort & Casino in downtown Las Vegas is holding drive-thru hiring events in April.

Hotel-casinos such as Ellis Island Hotel and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas are also actively recruiting, while Golden Nugget and the Fremont Street Experience too have recently held hiring events.

The Vegas-based publication also quoted Boyd Gaming Corp. spokesman David Strow as saying that his firm is “definitely hiring right now” for roles across Southern Nevada. It added that a Red Rock Resorts spokesperson said the Station Casinos-owned organization had so far reinstated “well over” 2,300 employees.

Vegas coming back quicker than anticipated

MGM’s vice president of talent acquisition strategy, Randy Goldberg, said his company’s recruitment drive increased around four weeks ago. He added that new recruits “should help ease the staffing shortages [MGM Resorts] has experienced in recent weeks, as travelers have started to return” to Las Vegas in large numbers. Goldberg explained: “I don’t think anyone expected the ramp-up to happen this quickly.”

Clark County officials went a step further, proposing a capacity limit hike of 80%

The job hire activity comes while casinos in Nevada are operating at the current state-mandated capacity of 50%. When Steve Sisolak’s Roadmap to Recovery enters its next phase on May 1, casinos could enjoy even further loosening of capacity restrictions, provided they meet the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB)’s COVID-19 vaccination conditions. On April 20, Clark County officials went a step further, proposing a capacity limit hike of 80% by May 1.

Goldberg said MGM Resorts were upping the hiring ante to avoid a scenario of a return to 100% capacity with not enough staff in place to cater for guests.

COVID-19 shots mean a lot

Both the NGCB and Clark County’s potential May 1 capacity increase for casinos hinges on vaccinations. Over recent weeks, casino operators in Nevada have tried different approaches to get their workers to take the needle, from cash bonuses by The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to warnings of disciplinary action from Wynn Resorts.

In a recorded video segment of MGM Minute, VP of administration for MGM Resorts International John Flynn stressed the importance that vaccination rates will have on increased capacity limits. He welcomed “anybody that works under the rooftop of an MGM Resorts property […] to come and get vaccinated at the Mandalay Bay on-site clinic.”

With increased capacity levels, Flynn said, it means MGM Resorts “can open up the rest of our businesses.”