CityCenter Uniform Attendant Anthony Richardson takes down Gabriel Bustamantez size information Wednesday at the CityCenter Uniform Distribution Center in Las Vegas. CityCenter properties begin opening December 1.
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
CityCenter Workers Get Uniforms
CityCenter has begun fitting their 12,000 employees into their new uniforms as the December resort openings approach. The 200,000 uniforms are the work of award-winning designers such as Jhane Barnes and some of them are made from recycled materials. For some, the uniform fitting marked the first step out of unemployment.
Sun Coverage
Sun Archives
- How CityCenter’s room rates will compare with Strip rivals’ (10-20-2009)
- CityCenter to begin making nearly 12,000 job offers Monday (9-18-2009)
- CityCenter's Aria Resort to hire 350 workers (8-2-2009)
- A look inside CityCenter’s application mill (7-17-2009)
With CityCenter’s first opening date just a month away, thousands are gearing up for new jobs at the property.
CityCenter brought hundreds a step closer to work on Wednesday as it handed out uniforms to new employees.
For those who have been out of a work, the uniform is symbolic of the beginning of new opportunities.
“This is like early Christmas. This is like the best gift I could unwrap for myself,” Gabriel Bustamantez said.
Bustamantez will begin his training for a room service position at ARIA in the coming weeks. The former graphic design professional said he was laid off in February and has been out of work since.
Like many other unemployed Nevadans, Bustamantez said his savings dwindled, he struggled with bills and his job search led him from dead end to dead end.
“Looking for a job was my job for awhile,” Bustamantez said. “I’d look online. I’d go three times a week to anywhere that was hiring — fast food, gas stations, other casinos.”
After selling all his graphic design equipment and computer to pay his rent, Bustamantez said, he had to swallow his pride and ask his parents for help.
“It’s been hard on myself and my family. I moved back in with my folks and that was hard for them, too, because I became a burden on my family again. That’s really where the struggle came in and my self worth changed. Here I am at 29 having to be their child again,” Bustamantez said.
But after applying with CityCenter, the hiring process moved along fairly quickly. Two weeks after applying, Bustamantez got a call for an interview and, a week later, got a job offer.
CityCenter began fitting new employees for uniforms on Oct. 1 and will process more than 200,000 garments before the hotel and casino opens in December. The 130 different uniforms represent not only different positions at CityCenter, but the property’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
ARIA Vice President of Hotel Services Barbara Davis said the design process for the uniforms started more than two years ago when MGM Mirage began to lay out the casino and restaurant concepts.
Noted for her work designing men’s fashions, eyewear and housewares for Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, fashion designer Jhane Barnes was recruited to design uniforms for ARIA.
Davis said Barnes purchases recyclable polyester from a company in Japan, which can later be sent back and reused after the uniform has seen its lifespan. Along with that, ARIA convention staff uniforms have been developed from recycled materials.
Also waiting for her uniform today was Nicole D’Antuono, a future food server and room service attendant at ARIA.
D’Antuono said she put in for the position as soon as the property began accepting applications. At the time, she was working at the Rio and didn’t think layoffs were coming, but she decided to apply just in case.
The day after D’Antuono was offered the job at CityCenter, she was laid off from the Rio. Wednesday marked four weeks being out of work.
“I absolutely felt layoffs were coming right before it happened. It got really scary over there” at the Rio, D’Antuono said. “But I got really lucky compared to a lot of people.”
Davis said the best part of CityCenter’s recruitment has been days like today when future employees get a glimpse of the environment they’ll be working in.
“This is the most rewarding part for our company — to know that we are able to offer these jobs, that we made it over our hurdles and people are going to able to see the product that we are bringing them,” Davis said.
CityCenter received close to 160,000 applications for 12,000 openings — 60,000 more than the expected 100,000 applications. Of those who applied, 50,000 were interviewed.
Employees from other MGM Mirage properties will make up close to a third of CityCenter’s positions. The openings that transfers create at other MGM Mirage properties will be filled throughout the year.
Most employees at CityCenter will begin work in late November, ramping up through early December.
Vdara Hotel will kick off CityCenter’s opening on Dec. 1, followed by the Crystals retail and entertainment district on Dec. 3, Mandarin Oriental on Dec. 4 and ARIA Dec. 16. The Harmon will open in late 2010.
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