Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara have changed their employment structure and because of it, over 275 employees have decided to take the buyouts the company offered and seek employment elsewhere.  The casinos parent company feels that shifting the work focus to part-time employments instead of full-time is more cost effective for everyone involved, and Niagara Casinos president Art Franks states that this move is a ‘win-win’ for everyone.

"It is a win for the company, as we have been able to rebalance our full-time to part-time mix that allows us to be more responsive to changing market conditions," he stated in a memo that was issued on Saturday.  Employees had until Friday to choose the buyout.  He felt that the buyout was a good way for the employees to “make significant changes in their lives” and felt that this was the perfect solution for veterans and those who were close to retiring to get a head start.

This is the first buyout the casinos’ have ever offered during its eleven years in business.    Spokesman Greg Medulun believes that it will help the casinos be able to shift easily during uncertain market conditions without going under, making them able to adapt easier with the changes in the economy.

279 full time employees took the voluntary resignation package, receiving three weeks pay for every year worked up to 26 weeks of pay.  Eleven switched to part time status and will be retaining their current benefit package for one year before the package switched to the part time benefit package.  All part time employees will get up to twenty-four hours a week at the casinos.  The changes in employment status have dropped the total complement of the casino staff from 5,000 to 3,000, 65% of which were full time employees.

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor is in shock over the casino employee cuts, never expecting something like this to happen.  "I'm just devastated for the workers. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect this would happen with the casino," Craitor said.  He was part of the support for bringing in the casinos in the 1990s because of the employment it would bring.

The staffing change has come in an effort to be more flexible with the changing gambling market.  With their peak hours being in the evenings and on the weekends, Medulun stated that, "We're in an environment where we need to position our staff to meet the leisure times of customers who come to the property.  Like many other hotels and attractions in the Niagara region and Niagara Falls, there are always concerns about seasonality and we're not exempt from that come November."