it's hard out there for a casino employee.

Looks like I picked a helluva time to get back into the casino industry, eh?

From Yay-hoo News:

Macau's Venetian sacks further 500 staff as credit crunch bites

HONG KONG (AFP) – Macau's giant Venetian casino owned by troubled Las Vegas Sands has sacked 500 staff, the company said in a statement, the latest sign of the firms's struggles to deal with the global credit crunch.

The Venetian, a massive hotel and casino complex billed as the cornerstone of a new Las Vegas-style strip, has cut the weekly working week for its casino workers, and laid off 500 staff, the firm said in a statement.

"The company has adopted a series of measures to control operating cost in all business areas, including letting go approximately 500 employees across all levels who are not Macau residents," a Venetian spokesman said.

"(These include) about 100 management-grade expatriate employees in gaming operations," the statement, released late Monday said.

It said many of the workers would be offered alternative employment at the firm's new casino project in Singapore. Read more.

I just like the use of the word 'expatriate'. It sounds very clandestine and espionage-esque.