85K applications roll in after Resorts World announced it was hiring

Resorts World has seen a staggering amount of interest since its November announcement that it would be hiring for 6,000 open positions.

The under-construction Strip property has received about 85,000 applications, a testament to the large amount of unemployed and underemployed Nevadans.

“(Roughly 14 applications) for every open position reflects the number of people actively looking for work, or better work, than they have now,” said Jeremy Aguero, principal of Applied Analysis. “(COVID-19) did a lot of damage to the economy. We have a lot of healing to do.”

The $4.3 billion property, set to open this year, could be a boon Nevada’s economy. Not only will it provide a steady stream of income to thousands of workers, but it also could attract travelers to Las Vegas, according to Aguero.

Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World Las Vegas, said the company is “blown away” by the number of applicants.

“(We) know the hardest part will be choosing from an incredible pool of talented applicants,” Sibella said in a statement. “The large number of applications shows us just how deeply impacted our city has been amid the pandemic. We are hoping to contribute to Las Vegas’s rebound and are happy to be getting some people back to work.”

Along with Resorts World and its 100,000-square-foot LED screen to look forward to, visitors will also have the new Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and the expanded Las Vegas Convention Center to check out.

“People love to see the new thing in Las Vegas,” Aguero said. “There’s just an excitement that comes with it.”

Aguero said that the applications indicate many Nevadans are ready to get back to work.

There were about 300,700 leisure and hospitality jobs in Nevada in December, down 14 percent compared with such jobs during the prior year, according to the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

But the pandemic’s impact on this industry spans nationwide. The U.S. hospitality workforce lost nearly 4 million jobs in 2020, more than 670,000 of which were in direct hotel industry operations, according to the American Hospitality and Lodging Association

Only 200,000 of the direct hotel operations jobs are expected to be filled this year.

The resurgence of COVID-19, emergence of new strains and a slow vaccine rollout have added to the hotel industry’s 2021 challenges. It will take months, if not years, fully recover, with half of all U.S. hotel rooms expected to remain empty in 2021.

“COVID-19 has wiped out 10 years of hotel job growth,”AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers said in a statement last month. “Yet the hallmark of hospitality is endless optimism, and I am confident in the future of our industry.”

The AHLA expects travel demand to begin a slow rebound this year that will accelerate in 2022.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.