From the return of big concerts to crowded resorts to record levels of gambling revenue, signs of Las Vegas’ economic revival are hard to miss these days. But as the state’s economic backbone has surged back to life, the workforce that supports it has yet to see that same rebound.
In July, Las Vegas had the nation’s highest unemployment rate among major metro areas for the second straight month. A large chunk of that can be attributed to the slow rebound of hospitality and leisure jobs that employed more than a quarter of the valley’s workforce before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Coming out of the pandemic-induced economic slowdown has some major companies looking at streamlining their workforce and potentially leaning more on automation. It’s also given workers the time and ability to evaluate their own situations.
People looking for work have discovered that they have power now, more power than they had in the past The Right to Return was supposed to help, and it may be too soon to know if it has. The bill, SB386, became law on July 1 and gives certain employees at hospitality and gambling companies the right of first refusal for their old jobs.
Two months into the law, it’s unclear how many people have gotten their jobs back.
The monthly state unemployment rate continued its slow decline in July to 7.7. percent from 7.8 percent in June. The Las Vegas Valley’s unemployment rate was 9.4 percent in July. But July employment statistics for Nevada were assessed the week of July 12, not even two weeks after the bill taking effect, said David Schmidt, chief economist with the state’s employment department.
Now, companies are looking to expand beyond pre-pandemic levels by hiring for more employees in different positions. But finding people has been difficult.
South Point owner Michael Gaughan echoed those hiring difficulties. He said 130 of his 2,200 furloughed employees declined their jobs, and he said unemployment benefits have incentivized people not to work.
Whether the end of the enhanced benefits will drive more people back into the workforce remains unclear. Twenty-six states ended those pandemic-era benefits between May and July. In those states, shifts among hourly workers grew about 2.2 percent, which was just about half as fast as the 4.1 percent growth seen in other states, according to a report from payroll and time-management firm UKG.
Overall employment followed a similar trend among those states, falling 0.9 percent in states that ended the benefits early, according to data from payroll company Homebase. In the states that kept the benefits, employment rose by 2.3 percent. Nevada’s enhanced unemployment benefits expired Saturday.
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