As the economy continues to nosedive to increasingly dramatic lows, the job market in Las Vegas is looking remarkably grim. Just recently the folks at Black Gaming made the announcement that the Oasis would be shutting down a handful of their operations. This means that as many as 500 jobs will be cut as soon as the end of this week. This development has left a great many people wondering how they are going to survive. This is an especially difficult time to be out of work with the holiday season fast approaching.

In nearby Mesquite, which is a town that has in the past held Black Gaming as its largest employer, finding a job will be next to impossible and many workers will be looking to Las Vegas for employment possibilities. But even in Las Vegas, people seem to be losing their jobs right and left. Casino and hotel operators are doing their best to find other ways to absorb their loss in revenue, but job cuts are inevitable, especially if the downturn of the nation’s financial system continues on the path it is marching down.

Gaming jobs within Las Vegas are particularly hard to come by these days. Officials estimate that they are down by about 70% with more and more layoffs occurring every single week. Temp and employment agencies that this same time last year had job boards brimming with post-its of opportunities has become almost deserted. Several employment agencies have stated that they are no longer even accepting applications. The market has gotten so bleak that employment agencies themselves are having to cut back and layoff some of their own workers.

A considerable amount of financial difficulties have added up over the last several months to push the Hong Kong-based internet gambling operation AsianLogic Limited to drastic measures. The company recently issued a trading update that indicated that they had developed a risk management initiative that would result in the closure of a number of wholesale betting operations.

Like many companies throughout the world, the current economic crisis is hitting hard and showing few signs of letting up any time soon. Many companies have been forced to make dramatic changes just to keep afloat and others that are less fortunate have sunk into bankruptcy and ruin. The online gambling industry is not immune to these financial woes and has begun to make the necessary changes also.

Although AsianLogic had reported several positive results towards the end of September and indicated that they were still optimistic of the company’s potential performance in terms of keeping up with growth and bringing in consistent revenue and building profits for 2008 and well into the future, things have not come together as they would have hoped.

The Asia-Pacific region is feeling the crunch of the international financial downfall and the firm is taking action before any further downturn comes to a head. The new initiative will be sure to affect trading in both the medium and long-term scope of their operations.

Since wholesale betting has been in quite a slump in recent months, many additional land-based initiatives have been put off until 2009 so that 2009 can start out strong and build up for maximum commercial success.

While the revenue for several big casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas was up in October compared to a dismal showing in September, most people inside the industry are gearing up for a prolonged tough time financial in the coming months.

With seven Las Vegas casinos in operation, Harrah’s as the world’s largest gaming operator, has recently reported a third quarter net loss of $129.7 million. That same figure was $244.4 million the year before. As far as Atlantic City’s struggles are concerned, some operators have come out and put the blame on not just the overall bleak economic landscape being experienced on a national level right now, but also on the slots parlors in Pennsylvania that have stolen a chunk of their regular clientele.

Another blow to the local industry came during the second half of October as the state implemented a comprehensive smoking ban which caused slot machine revenue to drop down 20% in the second half of the month. This glum atmosphere for Atlantic City’s casino operations are inevitably going to leave many people unemployed. Officials predict that more than 1,200 people could stand to lose their jobs if the current conditions persist for an extended period of time.

Overall, predictions for the total revenue for 2008 are coming in at around 7.5 to 8% lower than what was originally predicted before we entered into these rough financial times. Estimations for 2009 are not very optimistic either. Things might pick back up slightly when the smoking ban is rolled back to 75% of casino floors this month, and that will be in place for at least one year.

In October, Atlantic City’s casino revenue sunk by 9.9% down to $346.2 million from where it was less than a year ago. This is just another wave of financial strife that the current economic downturn has brought on the gambling industry. This decline from October came after a rough 15.1% drop during September that was the largest total decrease in gaming revenue in the entire 30-year existence of the popular New Jersey gambling mecca.

Revenue from the slot machines at Atlantic City’s eleven casinos was $235.9 million and the profits from table games were $110.3 million. While these numbers may not seem so dismal to the average layperson, these are a sharp departure from the success and consistency that Atlantic City is known for. Overall, revenue dipped down by 6.6% during the first ten months of 2008 as compared to the year prior. And revenue from slot machines has sunk 8.6%. Table game revenue lowered down by 2%.

The outlook is decidedly grim when one compares these numbers to October of 2005 when revenue came in historic high numbers reaching $427.9 million. This latest development in Atlantic City is right in line with the struggles that the rest of the gambling industry are dealing with. Many operations are facing extreme losses and even bankruptcy in some cases as casinos try to compensate for the drop in casino client spending.

Although October’s decline was less than that of September, representatives from a number of Atlantic City casinos said that they were not overly optimistic and that the slight upswing was a very minimal improvement.

Even with all of the hard times Las Vegas has experienced economically in recent months, there are still several super high-end casinos and hotels that are going up. To lure in more people to spend money at these new venues that have about 60% of their revenue set up to be based on things other than gambling. To get people to set foot in their doors they have devised countless methods including special events, direct marketing, loyalty programs and sensational stunts that emphasize having a god time and forgetting all of your worldly cares.

Operated by MGM Mirage, the 2,000-room New York-New York Hotel & Casino has gone through extensive rebranding to build a new no-holds-barred identity that reflects the spit and fire of New York City. They have gone so far in this spirit that their new tagline is “Shut up and play.” This is supposed to echo the sentiment that runs rampant in New York in regard to being entirely and completely unapologetic about how to approach life and people. It is reminding people to let go and just focus on having a good time.

Another push reflecting the different focus in marketing has been a shift to use more outdoor advertising – a whopping 60%. Another 25% goes to radio promotion and the rest is given to the world of print including publications like People magazine. Despite what some people have assumed, this rebranding was not brought on as a response to the shoddy economy. There is a move to capitalize on brands that have the potential to have a strong voice that has the pluck to put its neck out there during rough times.

With the immediate future of the worldwide economy looking increasingly grim, the jobs of countless people employed in the online gambling industry are being cut or are in jeopardy of being eliminated. Many online casino employees have grown accustomed to the standard of living that their job in the industry has afforded them. In addition, job satisfaction for many people was relatively higher than in many other job sectors. People found their work interesting and, with the always changing atmosphere, demanding in a positive way.

While the exact numbers for how many people have lost their jobs in the online gambling industry, some experts are estimating that the cutbacks that have resulted in the job losses will be as high as 40% when all is said and done. Needless to say, in the coming months, this development will have a dramatic impact on the industry in general.

While many popular sites may be cutting down on the number of people they employ, the one area where they do not wish to see any cutback is in the number of players who frequent their site. With the economic downturn, the threat of this possibility is intensely real. Some companies are scrambling just to stay afloat. Executives say they deeply regret having to cut jobs in such a tumultuous and unfriendly economy, but in order to survive, extreme steps had to be taken.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for some former employees. Spokesmen for a number of companies report that a number of the jobs that have been slashed could be reinstated by possibly the third quarter of 2009. For those workers who are now out of a job and facing extended unemployment, this news comes as little solace.

The financial crisis that has hit the United States - and beyond - is finally having a dramatic impact on the online casino industry. While players are operating with a much tighter budget and are depositing less money for playing, they are not the only ones who seem to be suffering as a result of the credit crunch and the bleak turn our global economy has taken. In Cyprus, a nation that is often at the forefront of being a big player in the world online gambling industry, online casino workers are finding themselves out of a job.

Within the last few weeks, an alarming number of online casino employees have received their pink slips, being told at the end of the week not to return the following Monday. This is just one of many residual effects that the industry has felt due to the credit crunch and the tumbling that the financial market has experiences in recent weeks. Many businesses are cutting costs anywhere they can. They are cleaning house and looking for any and all possible ways that they can downsize.

This has resulted in many online gambling employees left out in the cold with the new and depressingly dismal mission: finding a new job. This task seems all but impossible in an economy where everyone is facing cutbacks and jobs are being eliminated rather than created. Every position in the online casino market is in danger including managers, customer service representatives and software designers. It isn’t just a handful of people who are going to find themselves without jobs – the numbers are substantial.