Downturn. Er, what downturn?

After being assailed for months by grim news of layoffs, bailouts, and bankruptcies, Americans at last found some comfort yesterday from an industry that remains defiantly optimistic about the future: sin.

Or to put it more politely: the Las Vegas leisure sector.

The much-needed New Year cheer came from the soon-to-be-opened CityCenter hotel and casino—the most expensive project of its kind in US history, with a price-tag of $9.1 billion—which announced that it had opened the application process for a staggering 12,000 new jobs.

Successful applicants will report to work at the immense steel and glass pleasuretropolis before the end of the year, regardless of a statewide 22 per cent decline in gambling revenues during October—the worst economic conditions in Sin City since at least the early 1980s.

Analysts believe that business improved slightly over Christmas and New Year.

The almost-finished CityCenter development, which towers above the infamous Las Vegas Strip, covers 1.5 million square metres and includes 4,800 hotel rooms, 2,650 flats, 7,500 car parking spaces, and a 50,000 square metre ‘retail and entertainment district’. It was designed by no fewer than five ‘starchitects’—Norman Foster, Cesar Pelli, Daniel Libeskind, Rafael Viñoly and Helmut Jahn—and has been described as a ‘city within a city’.

To many critics, however, CityCentre remains the epitome of America’s fantasical credit bubble, and the assumptions of infinite consumer spending upon which it was based.

Still, no-one was complaining yesterday.

“Today is a momentous occasion for us,” said Bobby Baldwin, president and CEO of CityCenter, which was funded by MGM Mirage—controlled by the 91-year-old ex-corporate raider, Kirk Kerkorian—and Infinity World Development, a subsidiary of the Dubai government.

“We’re proud to be creating 12,000 new jobs at CityCenter that will be filled by smart, passionate individuals from throughout the state and country. We welcome individuals of all experience levels and backgrounds to submit their applications today.” To prevent a riot—one in every ten residents of the state of Nevada is expected to be out of work in 2009—Mr Baldwin said that all CVs would first be reviewed online, at a website named Citycentercareers.com. Positions are being advertised immediately at three of CityCentre’s major attractions: the ARIA Resort & Casino, the Vdara Hotel, and the Crystals mega-mall.

By spring, new positions will also be advertised at the Mandarin Oriental and The Harmon Hotel, Spa & Residences.

There is, however, a small catch to the good news: about half of the new jobs are expected to be filled by employees at existing MGM properties.

The new positions will be separated into such broad categories as food and beverage, hotel operations, casino operations, retail management, entertainment, finance, human resources, facilities, and security. Interviews for current MGM employees will begin in February; external applicants will begin their interviews in April.

In a statement yesterday, the company said it would “reward its employees’ talent, hard work and dedication to providing quality service with a competitive compensation and benefits package that includes a choice of healthcare coverage options and retirement savings plans”.

The three-year construction of the CityCentre development has transfixed Las Vegans, many of whom feared it would suffer the same fate as other blockbuster hotel-casino projects and simply run out of money. Last summer, as the cost of raw materials skyrocketed amid a global commodities boom, it was estimated that the cost of the project could eventually reach $11 billion—almost triple the original estimate of $4 billion. Meanwhile, several construction workers died as the developers raced to meet deadlines. One was literally cut in half by a falling elevator counterweight.

Workers briefly staged a walk-out last June before their demands for more rigorous safety standards were met.

The final bad omen for the project came at end of last year, when both Mr Kerkorian and the Dubai government lost vast sums of money during Black October. It is thought that Mr Kerkorian has so far lost $10 billion on his stake in MGM Mirage—he also made a catastrophically poor bet on Ford last year—while the Dubai government, like all Middle East countires, saw its revenues plunge along with oil prices.

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