Seriously, if you like your workplace rife with harassment, toxicity, and retaliatory tactics, you are welcome to apply at any Vegas casino. But if you are a bit more evolved and filled with righteous indignation, you are also welcome in a most sinister way. The sharks will eat you alive.

In a town that is constantly evolving by changing the scenery, there is no will or inclination to change a firmly entrenched culture of mistreating and bullying the workforce. Much of it stems from the old mob mentality of ruling by fear and intimidation. But also a chance at making it big causes the vulnerable among us to accept the ill treatment. Women and ethnic minorities are among the most targeted for abusive treatment and the psychology similar to Stockholm syndrome overrides any thought of seeking redress through property Human Resources. In Nevada, the casinos are a powerful lobbying force that ensures their continued success in any form of litigation, especially labor issues.

In just the past decade unions have gained a foothold in the town to represent casino workers, in other words, the people who handle the joint’s money. It is a positive step, but as with most things casino, the house holds the edge. The unions are little more than paper tigers, although there is the occasional reinstatement of a worker wrongfully terminated but only if the violations are not of a monetary nature. Evolution is a pedantic, nonlinear process and even Darwin would be puzzled by the impenetrable resistance found here, where nothing is natural or close to nature.

Corporate dominance, once entrenched, gave the air of legitimacy to gambling in general, and to Vegas specifically. Dynamic growth ensued and has only recently begun to slow based on controllable as well as uncontrollable factors. Factors corporate leaders can control are the approach to handling risk. Gambling is risky and prone to great swings in profitability which some corporations find unsettling. The most successful casinos are independently owned by folks who like the thrill of the of the game and accept the inherent risk. Corporations inclined to try and mitigate risk are doomed to lackluster performance in the casino. They are lured by the guaranteed income garnered from conventions, restaurants, and room rates. One bad beat loss to a well financed gambler can spell catastrophe to the bottom line and possibly careers. Uncontrolled factors are environmental, specifically a global pandemic and the ever worsening problem of water shortages.

Of course these things will happen when your only source of income is tourism. Protestations to the contrary, Vegas has never been interested in fostering other industries. Our inability to sustain a school system successful at teaching our children at any rate better than the bottom five is further proof that we lack vision. Diversity is for losers.

Those of us employed in the casino industry would like to see a transition from the dark ages into the light. But old habits do die hard and the likelihood of an epiphany seems remote. The town will return to the desert from which it spawned before we realize that not only has time forgot us, but so has everybody else.