MGM Making Significant Employment Changes at Mandalay Bay Resort

MGM is laying off some workers and reducing the hours of others at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas in wake of the Oct. 1 shooting at the hotel.

A vice president at MGM said that several hundred employees are affected out of the 7,400 who work at Mandalay Bay, according to Nevada Public Radio.

MGM Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren said in a conference call that the reductions were most likely a result of reduced occupancy rates following the mass shooting that left 58 dead and hundreds others injured. He also said that the increased cancellations were limited to Mandalay Bay and that other MGM properties had not seen a rise in cancellations.

MGM's plans for Mandalay Bay's future include a slower marketing rate than with the company's other properties.

Alan Feldman, MGM's Executive Vice President of Global Industry Affairs, said in an email to Nevada Public Radio that reduced work hours are not uncommon in Las Vegas during the last quarter of the year.

"It has been a long-standing practice that many properties in Las Vegas make adjustments in staffing levels in the fourth quarter to reflect business levels," Feldman wrote.

Murren also said that the reduced rate of occupancy at the Mandalay Bay was limited to the month of October, and that he's optimistic for the resort's future now that marketing efforts are back in full effect.

"About half of our cancellations were isolated literally to the month of October," he said. "We've seen bookings improve, our business improve, here in November."

A rep for Culinary Union 226, which represents MGM employees and other casino workers around the Vegas strip, told the Las Vegas Sun that the union is keeping an eye on the layoffs.

"Contracts have seniority language which detail that layoffs must be done in a fair and impartial manner and ensures that when business improves, workers will return to work by seniority," Culinary spokeswoman Bethany Khan said. "The union will be monitoring the situation closely and continue working with affected workers to ensure that the company follows the contract."

Last month, MGM announced that the suite on the 32nd floor that Stephen Paddock opened fire from will not be rented again.

"This was a terrible tragedy perpetrated by an evil man," MGM Resorts International told Newsweek in a statement. "We have no intention of renting that room. We've been cooperating with law enforcement from the moment this happened, which includes preserving evidence."