Pictures

Photo

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Photo

Flooding in India

Heavy monsoon rains have swollen several rivers.  Slideshow 

Photo

Celebrity portraits

Up close and personal with famous faces.  Slideshow 

Sponsored Links

Casino gets 16,000 job applications in 4 days

Related Topics

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND | Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:04pm EST

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A soon-to-open Cleveland casino was bombarded with job applications from 16,000 people in just four days after announcing openings for 750 positions, a casino official said on Saturday.

Due to the high volume of responses, the Horseshoe Casino took down about half of the job openings on Friday and is now shifting through the resumes to find qualified candidates.

"We are utilizing employees all across the county to review applicants," Jennifer Kulczycki of Rock Gaming, parent company of the casino, told Reuters Saturday.

"We were blown out of the water by the numbers but we announced we would hire 90 percent of our staff from the Cleveland area and we are sure we will meet that goal."

This is the second round of job postings the casino, slated to open in March, has put on its website.

Ohio voters approved four casinos in the state in November 2009. Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers professional basketball team, also owns Rock Gaming, and partnered with Caesars Entertainment Corp. to build the casino in Cleveland.

According to Kulczycki, the most sought-after positions during this round were security, cage cashier, food and beverage workers and administrative assistants.

In September, the casino posted more than 600 job openings and 12,000 people applied over the course of one month. Eventually that number was whittled down to 4,000 and more than 600 are currently receiving free training.

According to Kulczycki, employees will sort through the applications and invite some to in-person interviews. Those who do well will receive a conditional job offer.

(Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Jerry Norton)

(This story corrects a detail in last paragraph)
U.S.
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (3)
vgrillo wrote:
Thanks for the story. The same tale is repeated often these days, highlighting the willingness of folks to work, and the lack of opportunity available, largely because of the continued tight credit markets, and the unwillingness of businesses to take the first step. There may be something to the thought “If you build it, they will come” that could inspire other industries to lead the march to a better economic climate, rather than wait for their customers to lead. It’s also a bit ironic that so many folks looking for work are finding it in the gambling industry, where many of them will risk whatever new earnings their new job provides.

Dec 17, 2011 3:30pm EST  --  Report as abuse
bicyclefish17 wrote:
AWESOME. Economic development through casinos! Just what the doctor ordered.

Dec 17, 2011 3:31pm EST  --  Report as abuse
toby3061 wrote:
It’s come to that huh? Dems would rather build casinos to add jobs than build a pipeline. Is it any wonder that Obama will be a one term president?

Dec 17, 2011 4:02pm EST  --  Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.
See All Comments »