Cosmofusion; MGM Springfield wants new deal

There are some mighty mixed signals coming out of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The megaresort informed its thousands of employees that no layoffs are planned. However, it wrote the state that “The layoff and furloughs which began on or about March 24, 2020, and April 17, 2020, may continue beyond six months and/or could become permanent.” So which is it? A Cosmo spokeswoman pooh-poohed the governmental memo as “an administrative notice to the state should a business be forced to make staffing adjustments.” Given the present trajectory of business on the Las Vegas Strip, you’d think those adjustments would be made sooner rather than later, when lean times are expected to fatten. What is the Cosmo really saying? Your guess is as good as ours.

Whatever’s happening at the Cosmo pales in comparison to the job losses at regional casinos. Boyd Gaming sacked 903 employees of IP Biloxi alone, while Boomtown Biloxi dumped 149 and Hollywood Bay St. Louis let go another 167. Louisiana casinos are being hit hard, too, with an aggregate of 1,375 being pink-slipped by Margaritaville, Boomtown New Orleans, L’Auberge Baton Rouge and L’Auberge du Lac, as well as at tribal Cypress Bayou Casino. This brings unemployed casino workers in the state to a dismal 3,000.