Former MGM Resorts Employees Unite Online to Find New Jobs

Posted on: June 17, 2019, 01:51h. 

Last updated on: July 23, 2019, 02:56h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Former MGM Resorts employees who have been let go in recent months are bonding online to help one another find new careers in the gaming industry.

For the more than 1,000 MGM workers given pink slips this year, finding a new employer in Southern Nevada isn’t exactly an easy process.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that the four percent unemployment rate in the Silver State is a 13-year low. While that usually presents favorable market conditions for job-seekers, the fact that only 3,600 leisure and hospitality positions in Nevada were created in all of last year means there’s plenty of competition.

As a result, ex-MGM colleagues are uniting through social networking to help notify one another of open positions. Using the hashtag #254strong on LinkedIn, the group has already shared hundreds of posts.

Along with the hashtag, former MGM worker Mali Catello said an official group called MGM 2020 Network has been created.

“If you are one of the 1,000 brilliant colleagues recently laid off from MGM, please join the group,” she posted last week. “I know the hashtag does not reflect the number of affected people, however it has gained traction and you are ALL welcome.”

MGM Layoffs

MGM Resorts rang in the new year by announcing its 2020 plan. CEO Jim Murren said the goal is to increase annual adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) by $200 million over the next two years, and an additional $100 million by the end of 2021.

For many working for Nevada’s largest employer, the 2020 scheme meant the termination of jobs. In April, MGM announced the elimination of 254 managerial positions – hence the LinkedIn hashtag. In May, it was confirmed that nearly 800 further careers had been terminated.

A lot of the positions that were eliminated are leadership positions, which are difficult to come by, especially with the numbers eliminated,” Catello, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Those are not positions that are easily found in Las Vegas.”

MGM spokesperson Brian Ahern said the company is doing everything it can to treat those let go “with the utmost appreciation for their skills and hard work.” Employees were given two weeks of severance pay for each year of MGM employment, and were also afforded career transition services.

Job Openings

A quick job search on MGM’s homepage turns up 814 results, with nearly 600 open positions in Nevada. They range from front desk help to executive positions in quality assurance and marketing.

For those perhaps a bit weary to rejoin the company that recently fired them, LinkedIn users are sharing career opportunities with other businesses operating in the gaming industry.

Another is for a director of player development at an unnamed casino in the northeast that comes with $125,000 compensation plus benefits. He’s also looking for a chief marketing officer that comes with a nearly $200,000 salary.