SPRINGFIELD – MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis revealed on Thursday at a meeting with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that the casino lost nearly 200 full-time employees back in July to the opening of Boston Encore Harbor in Everett.
As reported by Mass Live, Mathis and his employees met to discuss MGM Springfield’s second-quarter revenue and their employment figures when the loss was revealed, as well as MGM’s continuing struggle to maintain adequate staffing.
Vice President Marikate Murren of MGM’s human resources went on to share that a decline in interviews, family obligations, a desire to switch from full-time to part-time, and Boston Encore’s ability to lure their employees were some of the reason for the decline in employment.
“We do have some challenges unfortunately with theft. They are moving onto bigger and better opportunities. We have lost 125 table game dealers to Encore so we are doing the additional recruitment to rectify that,” Murren said.
MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis also addressed Encore Boston’s recruitment of employees.
“We also lost management so really the number is closer to 200 that left the operation because of Encore. We felt that particularly in May and June as they got closer to their opening,” Mathis said.
Adding, “I certainly don’t fault them. We have great, trained employees that are already licensed, licensing being key. They were very aggressive with offering our employees opportunities.”
Mathis and Murren’s second quarter earnings were somewhat troubling, but they shared that they plan to continue working with a strong commitment to the state and Springfield.
“When the doors opened a year ago and even to this day workforce development does not stop. We are going to be here for a very long time. We have a commitment to the state and the city and more importantly to the residents of this area,” Murren said.
Meanwhile, after promising to bring 5,ooo new jobs to the market with the opening of Encore Boston Harbor, the casino managed to hit that figure in the same month as their opening back in June, per casino.org, and continues to add additional employees to staff the $2.6 billion resort.
Image via Wikimedia Commons / Sreyan Sarkar
