AMID the worst economic downturn in decades for this gambling haven, gaming giant MGM Mirage began taking the first of 12,000 job applications on Monday for a new multi-billion-dollar development.

MGM Mirage, the owner of Bellagio, Mirage and eight other Las Vegas Strip casinos, is in the finishing stages of constructing CityCenter, a 30.8ha site that is themost expensive privately-financed building project in United States history.

The first building, a 57-storey, 1,500-unit hotel-condominium called Vdara, is scheduled to open in October, with the Mandarin Oriental, another hotel-condo building, a 4.6ha shopping centre and a 4,000-room hotel-casino named Aria expected to debut in December.

While MGM Mirage has reduced its workforce by more than 3,500 jobs in recent months because of the impact of the economic slowdown on tourism, company officials say they expect to fill 12,000 positions to staff the new buildings.

'There will be a net increase of jobs, no question of that, and it will be in the thousands,' said MGM Mirage senior vice-president Alan Feldman, noting the jobs range from front-desk receptionists to accountants. Mr Feldman said applicants won't receive offers until the summer and will start in the autumn. The mammoth job drive comes as Las Vegas is slumping.

MGM Mirage, in fact, announced the sale of one of its Strip resorts, the Treasure Island, for US$775 million (S$1.1 billion) last month, to be paid primarily in cash, to improve the company's liquidity as cash flow has slowed.

MGM stock has fallen 78 per cent in the past year, although it is up 40 per cent since the Treasure Island sale was announced on Dec 15 last year. - AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE