Casinos bringing back some laid-off workers

David Strow

Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2001 | 9:46 a.m.

Two of the city's largest casino operators have recalled some laid-off workers, but are cautioning that employment levels in Las Vegas will fluctuate with changing and generally weak business conditions.

MGM MIRAGE and Park Place Entertainment Corp. are two of the city's largest employers. As business slowed dramatically last month, MGM MIRAGE laid off more than 6,000 workers, and Park Place reduced its workforce by 1,500.

Now both companies say some of those workers are being brought back to work, though neither said how many. Officials at Mandalay Resort Group, which has laid off about 4,500, could not be reached for comment.

Still, the situation is far from normal, and few recalled workers are getting the kind of hours they were used to before Sept. 11.

"We brought back some of our staff on a temporary basis as occupancy strengthens, but we still see some weakness in midweek business," said Park Place spokeswoman Debbie Munch. "When that stabilizes, we'll be able to bring back some more people on a full-time permanent basis."

Workers are also returning to work at MGM MIRAGE, though spokesman Alan Feldman did not sound an optimistic tone.

"Yes, we have had workers called back, but I'm hesitant to try to put a pretty spin on all this, because the fact remains that (business) is nowhere near where it ought to be," Feldman said. "Even though we're full (on weekends), we're not seeing the same kind of food and beverage activity, retail activity, gaming activity. It's a different kind of full."

Still, the city was nearly full for the first time this past weekend.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Monday that citywide hotel occupancy was 97 percent this past weekend, which is considered normal for an October weekend.

The LVCVA had been projecting 84 percent occupancy, but these numbers were boosted by stronger-than-expected walk-up reservations, said Kevin Bagger, senior research analyst for the LVCVA.

"We're definitely seeing improvements," Bagger said. "People are taking advantage of the deals, and word is getting out about the promotions of the hotels. It seems to be stimulating demand."

Midweek business is still below normal, and that's keeping many hotel-casino workers underemployed. The LVCVA is projecting occupancy of 78 percent this week, up from 72 percent the previous week and below 70 percent the week before. Typically, October midweek occupancy runs between 85 percent and 90 percent, Bagger said.

Union officials, however, believe there's little to get optimistic about.

"It's difficult to tell based on one weekend, but overall, you just need to come out to the (unemployment benefits processing center at the Culinary) to find out there are a lot of people not being called back," said D. Taylor, staff director for the Culinary Union. "It's a tale of two cities ... there are casinos where business has clearly picked up, and the (center) where people are getting help. It's clearly two different worlds."

If hotel rooms are filled on weekends, resorts will need a full complement of housekeepers and front desk attendants. But employees working in restaurants, retail stores, bell desks and casino floors may still find themselves without work.

That might not make much sense to laid-off workers, but Feldman said there's a reason for it -- the customers now coming to Las Vegas are being drawn by room rates well below normal. And they're spending a lot less than the customers that used to fill the hotel rooms.

"As a result, we're seeing overall less activity, even though the rooms may be full," Feldman said. "Because so much (of many employees') income comes from tips, you don't want to have a lot of people working that are just standing around. It's a very tough balance."

MGM MIRAGE has also apparently become the first Strip operator to accept a proposal made by the Culinary Union intended to lessen layoffs. Under this proposal, the 45,000-member union offered to allow hotel-casinos to reduce the hours of its members by eight to 10 hours a week; in exchange, each property had to specify how many Culinary members it would rehire.

MGM MIRAGE is now putting such a plan in place, Feldman said, though he was unable to say how many Culinary members had been rehired.

"That's helped lessen the load in terms of layoffs on people," Feldman said.

Park Place, however, is turning the proposal down.

"In the near-term, we feel it's in everyone's best interest to work within our existing Culinary Union agreement," Munch said. "We appreciate their (the union's) efforts, but we're going to focus our activities on doing everything possible to bring back a 40-hour week for our team members."

But Taylor said no deal has been struck yet, either with MGM MIRAGE or any other casino operator.

"No one's communicated that to me," Taylor said. "Based on the conditions of (specifying how many workers will be re-hired), absolutely nobody from MGM MIRAGE has approached me."

The layoffs that are hitting the casino industry are starting to show up on the state's rolls. The number of people filing for unemployment last week in Nevada shot up 22 percent from the week before.

The state Employment Security Division reported Monday that it received 7,553 applications for jobless benefits. That compares with 2,922 applications filed the week of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Division Director Birgit Baker said she does not know whether this upward swing will continue at its present pace. But she said the Saturday volume of claims fell off from the same day of previous weeks.

There were 16,063 calls, up from 15,441 of the previous week. But the telephone wait time was 25 minutes compared to 30 minutes of the week before. And on Saturday, the wait time was down to seven minutes, Baker said.

There were a total of 29,618 people on unemployment during the week, up from 22,897 of the previous week. And the state paid out $5.9 million, up from $5.2 million of the previous week.

The Las Vegas Sun's Cy Ryan in Carson City contributed to this story.