Sorely needed personnel
The Oneida Indian Nation has laid down 50 new apartments in central New York at sub-market rents as an incentive for hourly workers, as the tribe attempts to attract sorely needed personnel to its casinos and hotels. The first 50 apartments in the multimillion-dollar complex will become available to new tenants from July 1.
housing options from $550 to $750 per month
Monday’s announcement by the Oneida gives new employees moving to the region affordable housing options from $550 to $750 per month. The accommodation is situated in the tribe’s $15m Villages at Stoney Creek apartment complex near Turning Stone Resort Casino, West of Utica in central New York.
The new tenants filling those apartments, the tribe hopes, will be new, full-time staff wanting to move to the New York area, and those providing cover because of a shortage of resources.
Critical need
In a Monday statement, Oneida Indian Nation representative Ray Halbritter described Upstate New York’s staffing issues as chronic. He hopes the five-building apartment complex will help attract new faces to the tribe’s casino and hotel scene starting this summer.
a safe and flourishing neighborhood”
On the LinkedIn page of its business arm Oneida Nation Enterprises, the tribe is pushing the Stoney Creek complex as “designed to fit any lifestyle or family and […] located in a safe and flourishing neighborhood with nearby schools and attractions.”
The tribe is also laying on shuttle transportation directly to the staff entrance for all shifts.
Halbritter added that the employee housing scheme was an investment to “help fill critical, full-time, hourly positions at our resort — cooks, dealers, hotel jobs, to name a few.”
Keeping up in New York
Last week, the Oneida confirmed it is offering 100 spots in dealer school sessions this summer, and that it would pay people to attend. Finish the five-week school and graduates could get a job earning $20-$25 an hour in addition to a $1,000 sign-on bonus, according to the tribe.
To keep up with the new influx of sports betting business in New York, the tribe teamed up with Caesars to offer a mobile sportsbook in January this year.