Reports on redundancies at various Las Vegas casinos have emerged for several months now and raised questions about whether the gaming industry is approaching an end to the coveted economic boom.
Experts and managers say that staff adjustments are strategic, part of a long-term change towards greater efficiency and profitability in a post-pandemic market.
But with some operators reporting solid financial returns and major reinvesting projects that are still underway, the latest dismissals raise a pressing issue: Why are some of the city’s largest casino operators to reduce their labor, even when the total demand for Las Vegas remains relatively strong?
“This seems to be part of a long -term trend to try to keep narrower operations that began during the (large) recession,” said Amanda Belarmino, assistant professor at UNLVS William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. “Casinos tend to try to find ways to make strategic cuts that will not affect service quality, and we actually know from academic studies that narrower operations are often more effective and can provide better service quality because employees often take greater ownership.”
What casinos say
The total number of Las Vegas casino workers who have been dismissed in recent months is unknown, but it does not seem to be statistically significant. Not yet anyway.
What is known is that several factors drive the cuts, with macroeconomic conditions and develop consumer behaviors at the top of the list. Visitor volumes, especially among international travelers, have softened in recent months and put pressure. Technology also plays a role, as automation and digital services reduce the need for certain personal roles. And since many Las Vegas casinos are owned by listed companies, there is a constant driving force to fulfill the profitability goals and deliver returns to the shareholders.
Confirmed layoffs began to take place last summer, with the Rio-casino outside Strip, which recognized labor reductions in August. Three months later, Venetian and Palazzo casinos confirmed that they had shared roads with less than 50 employees, mostly workers at management and supervision. Resorts World Las Vegas releases a similar number of employees in March.
Last month, MGM International – the largest employer in Nevada – eliminated Concierge services at six of its nine strip casinos, resulted in 19 job losses and 15 employees redistributed. The company also dismissed the whales at one of its non-luxurious properties.
During the Las Vegas-based company’s quarterly-travel conversation on Wednesday, MGM managers noted that reductions in certain areas of the business, such as Concierge and Callcenter, was the result of changed customer preferences, with about 80 percent of these exchanges that took place on a digital platform, for example the MGM app.
Jonathan Halkyard, MGM’s CFO, told analysts on the conversation that the number of equivalents full -time (a business period that does not reflect the total number of employees but rather a universally accepted measure of labor in an organization) was down in Las Vegas during the first three months of 2025.
“We cannot bind these figures to any specific measures we have taken,” he said. “The fact is that we always handle our labor costs and that you see a reflection of it.”
Caesars Entertainment, the second largest casino operator on the strip by number of properties, has also re -evaluated its work levels in recent months. The Reno-based company has not publicly recognized any changes, and a spokesman for the company declined a request from Review-Journal to provide information about this story.
On the question of cost -saving measures during its quarterly result on Tuesday, Caesars Entertainment said president and Chief Operating Officer Anthony Carano that it was an ongoing process.
“I would only say that the team does an outstanding job that looks at every vertical, every work of the business, whether it is in our labor efficiency, whether in our food and beverage places, whether it is at price or product negotiations with our suppliers, the team does an outstanding job in this market and he can.
Casino customers talk loudly with their money
While a casino operator’s reasons for staffing changes may vary, the justifications are remarkably similar. Terms such as “optimization”, “efficiency”, “efficiency” and “operational adjustments” are often used to explain why.
A Las Vegas Casino -Managing Director, who was granted anonymity because the person had no direct knowledge of competitors’ latest labor movements and could only speak largely about industry practice, said that the main driving force behind most of these decisions is a response to what customers tell them – not with their words but with their wallets.
According to the most recently available information, the visit to Las Vegas, the hotel room’s occupancy rates and occupied room evenings is down during the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Gaming revenue from year to year reported by Strip Casino operators has decreased during six of the past seven months, while the Las Vegas Casino’s center published reductions over four of the past six months. Coin-in and table games, which are the total amount of games and a key metric used by casinos to measure volume, has also been upside down lately, with more dips than hope.
“The volume is down here in Las Vegas, absolutely,” said the casino manager. “You have fewer visitors, and these visitors have smaller wallets, which makes less expenses in the casino. If you have less expenses in the casino, you must customize your operating decisions and operating costs.”
The other major change that happens to Las Vegas casinos in the post-pandemic era is the total labor cost. Over the past year, wages and benefits have increased in tens of thousands of Las Vegas Strip Casino workers due to new trade unions.
The members of the Union have contractual protection, so the industry’s labor reductions usually affect other categories of employees, such as management between the upper level.
“This is where you will really affect, with supervisory and leadership staff,” the CEO said. “Undoubtedly, your advanced salary for leadership staff will definitely be looked at when you make decreases, and especially by operators who have several properties.”
Post-covid Rightsizing
So far, there have been no significant labor reductions for Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, which represents almost 60,000 casino employees in Las Vegas and Reno.
Although no single dismissal signals a crisis, the cumulative effect paints an image of a hospitality industry undergoing a structural transformation where fewer people ultimately are needed to earn a changing Las Vegas customer.
“I don’t think there should be an overall concern. It’s definitely a right size after Covid,” said the named casino manager. “But I think, without a doubt, the economy will bounce back, and I think A’s and the continued expansion of Las Vegas will drive more visitors.”
Belarmino, the hospitality expert, said that the combination of declining visits and room laying, increases in labor costs and the remaining effects of inflation on customers’ expenditure habits will continue to get casino operators to re -evaluate the business.
Industry observers say that the current moment can be an important point of inflection.
“All this would encourage casinos to review their staffing levels again and make strategic cuts now to prevent more widespread dismissals in the future,” she said.
Contact David Danzis at ddanzis@ theplayerlounge.com or 702-383-0378. Follow @AC2vegas-danzis.bsky.social or @AC2vegas_danzis on X.
