Casino Lays off

“The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.”

Douglas Adams, ‘Mostly Harmless’

Douglas Adams, the celebrated author of much celebrated The Hitchhiker Trilogy was a witty man, but the world economy is at its wits’ end. The economy is constantly falling towards the irreparable low. We sprained our necks by sticking our ears out, for a piece of good news, but what we got was more disheartening.

This is not the first news of companies firing their employees. We have seen MGM Grand Detroit doing the same. This time it’s MGM MIRAGE owned Beau Rivage Casino to join the party. The news of layoff sucked juices out of many employees.

How many will be laid off has not yet been disclosed, but the casino gave hint which suggests, managers and assistant managers might face the axe. George Corchis, the President of Beau Rivage Casino puts the blame on the economic environment that made the casino take this decision.

Fall, as the record suggests, has always been a lean season for tourism industry, which directly affects the gambling business here. And add on to this, the credit crunch and the economic crisis of the United States and a perfect reason for the layoffs is ready. Many other Coast casinos have also reduced their head counts, of late.

The bad news isn’t over yet. Biloxi casinos have disclosed their earnings for the month of September; the impact of the economic condition as well as hurricanes (Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike) on the businesses could be felt in the numbers. The total revenue is down by 26 percent in comparison to the revenue in September 2007.

Let’s not pretend. Things are not in good shape and no one knows when the bad time will be over. Some even believe, casinos will play a critical role, if not the role of a catalyst, in reviving the economy and bringing people to bet on poker and try their luck in Bingo.

We started with Douglas Adams’ words and let’s finish it with the same:

“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.”