Experts and executives say the staff adjustments are strategic, part of a long-term shift toward greater efficiency and profitability in a post-pandemic market.
Reports of layoffs at various Las Vegas casinos have been popping up for several months now, raising questions about whether the gaming industry is nearing an end to the post-COVID economic boom.
Experts and executives say the staff adjustments are strategic, part of a long-term shift toward greater efficiency and profitability in a post-pandemic market.
But with some operators reporting solid financial returns and major reinvestment projects still underway, the recent layoffs raise a pressing question: Why are some of the city’s largest casino operators reducing their workforce, even as overall demand for Las Vegas remains relatively strong?
“This seems to be part of a long-term trend to try to keep leaner operations that began during the (Great) Recession,” Amanda Belarmino, an assistant professor at UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, said. “Casinos tend to try to find ways to make strategic cuts that will not impact service quality, and indeed we know from academic studies that leaner operations are often more efficient and may provide better service quality as employees often take greater ownership.”
What the casinos are saying
The total number of Las Vegas casino workers who have been laid off in recent months is unknown, but it does not appear to be statistically significant. Not yet anyway.
What is known is that several factors are driving the cuts, with macroeconomic conditions and evolving consumer behaviors at the top of the list. Visitor volumes, particularly among international travelers, have softened in recent months, adding pressure. Technology is also playing a role, as automation and digital services reduce the need for certain in-person roles. And because many Las Vegas casinos are owned by publicly traded companies, there is a constant push to meet profitability targets and deliver returns to shareholders.
Confirmed layoffs started taking place last summer, with the off-Strip Rio casino acknowledging labor reductions in August. Three months later, Venetian and Palazzo casinos confirmed they had parted ways with less than 50 employees, mostly management and supervisory-level workers. Resorts World Las Vegas let go of a similar number of employees in March.
Last month, MGM Resorts International — the largest employer in Nevada — eliminated concierge services at six of its nine Strip casinos, resulting in 19 job losses and 15 employees being reassigned. The company also reportedly laid off the valets at one of its non-luxury properties.
During the Las Vegas-based company’s quarterly earnings call Wednesday, MGM executives noted that reductions in certain areas of the business, such as concierge and call centers, were the result of changing customer preferences, with roughly 80 percent of those exchanges taking place on a digital platform, such as the MGM app.
Jonathan Halkyard, MGM’s chief financial officer, told analysts on the call that the number of full-time equivalents (a business term that does not reflect the total number of employees but rather a universally accepted measure of manpower in an organization) was down in Las Vegas during the first three months of 2025.
“We can’t tie those numbers to any specific actions we’ve taken,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that we’re always managing our labor expenses, and you’re seeing a reflection of that.”
Caesars Entertainment, the second-largest casino operator on the Strip by number of properties, has also reevaluated its labor levels in recent months. The Reno-based company has not publicly acknowledged any changes, and a corporate spokesperson declined a request by the Review-Journal to provide any details for this story.
When asked about cost-saving measures during its quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Caesars Entertainment President and Chief Operating Officer Anthony Carano said it was an ongoing process.
“I’d just say the team does an outstanding job looking at every vertical, every piece of the business, whether it’s in our labor efficiencies, whether it’s in our food and beverage outlets, whether it’s on price or product negotiations with our vendors, the team does an outstanding job in this market and across the country and driving efficiencies wherever we can while maintaining exceptional guest experience,” he said.
Casino customers speak loudly with their money
While a casino operator’s reasons for staffing changes may differ, the justifications are remarkably similar. Terms such as “optimizing,” “efficiency,” “streamlining,” and “operational adjustments” are commonly used to explain why.
One Las Vegas casino executive, who was granted anonymity because the person had no direct knowledge of competitors’ recent labor moves and could only speak broadly about industry practices, said the primary driver 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 data, visitation to Las Vegas, hotel room occupancy rates and occupied room nights are down through the first three months of 2025 compared with the same period last year. Year-over-year gaming revenue reported by Strip casino operators has declined in six of the past seven months, while downtown Las Vegas casinos posted declines in four of the past six months. Coin-in and table game drop, which is the total amount gambled and a key metric used by casinos to gauge volume, has also been up and down lately, with more dips than jumps.
“Volume is down here in Las Vegas, absolutely,” the casino executive said. “You’re having fewer visitors, and those visitors have less wallet share, which makes for less spend in the casino. Therefore, if you have less spend in the casino, you have to adjust your operating decisions and operating expenses.”
The other big change happening to Las Vegas casinos in the post-pandemic era is the overall cost of labor. In the past year or so, wages and benefits have gone up for tens of thousands of Las Vegas Strip casino workers due to new union contracts.
Union members have contractual protections, so industry workforce reductions typically affect other categories of employees, such as mid-to-upper-level management.
“That’s where you’re really going to make an impact, with supervisory and managerial staff,” the executive said. “Without question, your high-end salary for managerial staff is definitely going to be looked at when you’re making decreases, and especially by operators that have multiple properties.”
Post-COVID rightsizing
To date, there have been no significant workforce reductions for Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, which represent nearly 60,000 casino employees in Las Vegas and Reno.
While no single layoff signals a crisis, the cumulative effect paints a picture of a hospitality industry undergoing a structural transformation in which fewer people may ultimately be needed to serve a changing Las Vegas customer.
“I don’t think there should be an overall concern. It’s definitely some right-sizing post-COVID,” the unnamed casino executive said. “But I think, without question, the economy will bounce back, and I think the A’s and the continued expansion of Las Vegas will drive more visitors.”
Belarmino, the hospitality expert, said the combination of declining visitation and room occupancy, increases in labor costs and the lingering effects of inflation on customers’ spending habits will continue to cause casino operators to reevaluate operations.
Industry observers say the current moment could be a pivotal inflection point.
“All of this would encourage casinos to re-examine their staffing levels and make strategic cuts now in order to prevent more widespread layoffs in the future,” she said.
