Casino job opportunities plentiful for DI workers

The new Aladdin hotel-casino is most often mentioned as a new employment opportunity for the 1,500 workers who will lose their jobs when the Desert Inn closes -- but the Aladdin says it won't have enough jobs to go around for most of those employees.

Still, human resources officials at other properties say the flood of employees leaving other Las Vegas properties to work at the Aladdin will create new openings for the DI's former employees.

Though the Aladdin will have about 4,000 employees when it opens Aug. 17, most of those positions have already been filled, said Aladdin spokesman Lynn Holt.

"It leaves several hundred positions at this point ... positions throughout the hotel, at various levels," Holt said. "We have made offers to more than half of the 4,000 we will ultimately hire."

Still, Holt said Desert Inn owner Steve Wynn discussed the situation with Aladdin President Bill Timmins June 22, and Timmins agreed to work with the DI's human resources department to find openings for some of the property's displaced workers.

"Most of our hiring is done at this point, but we are more than delighted to hire Desert Inn employees for the positions available," Holt said.

A stronger possibility at this point may be the Suncoast, the Coast Resorts Inc. property opening near Summerlin this fall. Out of 1,900 positions planned at the resort, 1,600 are still open, said Suncoast Vice President and General Manager David Ross.

"We're certainly welcoming anyone that would like to fill out an application from the Desert Inn to do so," Ross said. "We're just in the beginning of our first phase (of hiring). In the grand scheme of things, we probably have more opportunities than the Aladdin does, no doubt."

New Desert Inn owner Steve Wynn announced Thursday his intent to close the Desert Inn by Sept. 30, saying the property wasn't viable in its current form. Wynn will instead proceed with the construction of two 3,000-room towers at the 218-acre Desert Inn site.

A spokeswoman for the Desert Inn called the decision "a painful one" for Wynn. Initially, Wynn had hoped to use the DI as a training ground for employees at his proposed megaresort.

"When he purchased the Desert Inn, he fully intended to keep it open," said Desert Inn spokeswoman Caroline Coyle. "He's been here on site, 10 to 11 hours a day, trying to find a way to make it possible to keep the property open.

"When he bought Dunes and Castaways, they were already closed. This is something he's never had to do before, and it's not a decision he took lightly."

Wynn plans to set up employee assistance programs, Coyle said, including seminars on resume writing and interview skills. Plans for job fairs are being finalized, she said.

One company that has already held discussions with the Desert Inn about hiring some of the displaced employees is MGM Grand Inc., which bought out Wynn's Mirage Resorts Inc. on May 31 for $6.4 billion.

Cindy Kiser Murphey, senior vice president of human resources at the MGM Grand and New York-New York hotel-casinos, said representatives from the MGM Grand met Friday with the Desert Inn's vice president of human resources to discuss openings at the two Strip properties. The MGM Grand provided the Desert Inn with a list of job openings and will continue to provide these lists once a week, Murphey said.

"There is a career fair planned by the DI, and we have already committed to participating in that," Murphey said.

MGM Grand has also held discussions with the Culinary Union, Murphey said, and plans to assist the union in its efforts to find jobs for the 723 employees the Culinary represents at the DI.

Because of strong business, there will be quite a few hiring opportunities at the MGM Grand properties, Murphey said. At the New York-New York alone, there were "well over 100 vacancies" last week, she said.

"We do have some vacancies, that's for sure," Murphey said. "I would say the prognosis for dislocated individuals is very good, given the high gaming (revenue) levels, as well as the low unemployment rate."

On Thursday, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported that the state's unemployment rate hit 3.4 percent in May, its lowest level since 1994, and well below the national average of 4.1 percent. That translates to 32,000 Nevadans without jobs.

"The current job market is one where we have to be creative in our recruiting efforts," Murphey said.

Although many DI employees may not have the opportunity to move directly to the Aladdin, Murphey pointed out that those jobs will still create a huge number of new openings throughout the city. When employees begin resigning to join a new property, she said, existing properties must move quickly to fill those positions.

"There's no good time to close a property," Murphey said. "But in this situation, at least there happens to be 4,000 new jobs available in the community."

archive