Encore Boston Harbor Close to Full Headcount Less Than Three Months After Opening, Over 60 Positions to be Filled

Posted on: September 22, 2019, 04:00h. 

Last updated on: September 22, 2019, 10:33h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Encore Boston Harbor, Wynn Resorts’ first US casino located outside of Las Vegas, opened on June 23 and is already close to being fully staffed.

Encore Boston Harbor is becoming an important jobs creator in Massachusetts. (Image: Yahoo)

Prior to the opening of the $2.6 billion integrated resort, it was expected the venue would create 5,000 jobs. In June alone, Encore Boston Harbor had a staff of approximately 5,000, or more than half the jobs created in Massachusetts in the sixth month of the year.

Current headcount at the Wynn property resides at 4,982 with another 220 workers in the process of being onboarded. Another 64 positions are yet to be filled.

We’re getting prepared so that when we introduce more tables games, we’ll have appropriate staffing,” said Encore Boston Harbor President Bob DeSalvio in an interview with the Everett Independent. “We’re trying to provide more games that customers might be looking for. By having more dealers, we’ll be able to have more low level games that some customers are looking for.”

Encore Boston Harbor has over 3,100 slot machines, 144 table games and a poker room with 88 tables. With a gaming area of 210,000 square feet, the casino is larger than the Wynn and Encore on the Las Vegas Strip.

Ramping Up, Pressuring Competitors

When Massachusetts lawmakers voted in 2011 to approve casino gaming, the expectation was that industry would eventually create 15,000 jobs in the Bay State. Even if Encore Boston Harbor ramps up to 5,300 positions, that would leave the state short of previous forecasts for gaming industry jobs, because Plainridge Park Casino (PPC), a slots-only venue, and MGM Springfield combine for about 5,000 workers.

In July, its first full month of operation, the Wynn venue in Everett, Mass. generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $48.57 million, with that tally rising to $52.48 million last month. Conversely, MGM Springfield, which recently celebrated its first anniversary, has scuffled. That property came in well short of the expected first-year GGR of $418 million and laid off some staff earlier this year.

MGM Springfield isn’t the only New England gaming property feeling the heat from the new Wynn venue. Last month, Twin River Worldwide Holdings, the operator of Rhode Island’s two casinos, announced headcount reductions due to sagging revenue following the opening of Encore Boston Harbor.

Wynn forecast its Massachusetts property could post GGR of $800 million in its first 365 days in business.

Luring International Customers

Wynn executives had targeted the autumn period as the time to market its Massachusetts property to international customers. DeSalvio said some of those patrons are already visiting Encore Boston Harbor ,and a more targeted marketing effort geared toward non-US visitors is forthcoming.

Among the recently posted job openings at the integrated resort are gaming and marketing analytics manager, executive meeting manager, marketing analyst, poker dealer, sommelier, and a variety of food and beverage roles.