Star to fill hundreds of jobs before Queen’s Wharf opening

Casino giant Star Entertainment is embarking on a huge recruitment drive with 250 positions to be filled now.

Glen Norris

4 min read

June 9, 2021 - 8:55AM

The Australian Business Network

Business

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Casino giant Star Entertainment has revealed where it needs hundreds more workers as the tourism sector awakens from its Covid-19 slumber.

Star chief executive Matt Bekier said there are almost 700 roles open across the company, mostly food and beverage attendants, chefs, bartenders and gaming room workers.

Mr Bekier said that does not include the thousands of workers that will be required in the future for the $3.6b Queen’s Wharf integrated resort in Brisbane that opens from next year.

Currently there are 100 roles open in Brisbane, 380 in Sydney and 159 on the Gold Coast. About 57 jobs are available in corporate roles across Star’s three casino properties.

Queensland has emerged as a bright spot for Star, which like most tourist operators was hit hard by the pandemic shutdown last year.

Brisbane’s Treasury Hotel has almost no room vacancies at the moment as domestic tourists fill the gap left by international tourists.

Both Brisbane and the Gold Coast posted record revenues in May with restaurants at the Star Gold Coast preparing more meals than before Covid.

Mr Bekier said there is a need to reopen borders as quickly as possible so recruitment of much needed workers could extend overseas.

Casino giant Star Entertainment is embarking on a huge recruitment drive with hundreds of positions to be filled before the opening of the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf project next year.

Star chief executive Matt Bekier said the project would be a big job generator across Brisbane with the 690 roles currently open from chefs to wait staff.

Mr Bekier said was important to get international borders open as soon as possible, not only to help with a recovery in tourism but with recruitment of staff.

He said the company, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary, had invested $5 billion in its properties over the past decade, including $4.5 billion in Queensland.

Mr Bekier said Queen’s Wharf had been the catalyst for the transformation of the company into a integrated resort operator.

“We used to be a very Sydney-centric company with 70 per cent of our revenue coming from NSW and 30 per cent from Queensland,” he said. “Once Queen’s Wharf opens 60 per cent will come from Queensland and 30 per cent from NSW.”

Mr Bekier, who visited Queensland on Friday to thank staff for their efforts during Covid-19, said the company was in good shape helped by the recovery in domestic tourism.

“Both Brisbane and the Gold Coast posted record revenues in May,” he said. “The Gold Coast did more (meaI) covers last month than before Covid, In Brisbane, the Treasury Hotel has a 97 per cent utilisation rate.”

Meanwhile Star Entertainment chairman John O’Neill said the proposed merger between Star Entertainment and Crown Resorts could result in annual savings of up to $200 million a year, providing “clout and scale” as the casino sector recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Iin an interview marking the 10th anniversary of the company’s demerger from Tabcorp. Mr Bekier said the $12 billion merger deal was “compelling” in terms of its potential to lift profit and shareholder value.

“It really is salivating with the potential to save between $150 million and $200 million a year,” said Mr O’Neill. “It gives you scale and clout in a market that has faced uncertainty. and where consolidation opportunities are real.”

He said the company would meet competition laws. “We are not presuming anything and are working very closely with the ACCC to come to a good landing,” said Mr O’Neill.

Mr O’Neill was a driving force behind the creation of Star, then known as Echo Entertainment, as a director of Tabcorp. He said the impetus behind the demerger in 2011 was to allow the casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast to grow to their full potential.

Matt Bekier

“They had been hugely profitable but needed a lot of capital expenditure to restore them to their former glory,” he said. “The feeling around the (Tabcorp) boardroom table was that it was not compatible to have casino and wagering businesses together.”

He said following the demerger there had been major redevelopments of both the Sydney and Gold Coast casinos and the start of the $3.6 billion Queens Wharf’s integrated resort.

Mr O’Neill said the past decade had seen the transformation of the sector from pure gaming to one based more around entertainment, dining and shopping.

“Our objective is to become the best integrated resort company in Australia,” he said. “Traditionally a casinos’ main product was gambling. Then the Crown Melbourne became the gold standard for what was an integrated resort bringing fine dining, hotels and theatres.”

He said the concept gained further traction when Singapore approved casino developments after initially being reluctant to do so.

Mr O’Neill said the sector had been hit hard by Covid-19, but was recovering well on the back of a resurgence in domestic tourism with Gold Coast and Brisbane leading the way.

“Domestic visitors are rising given people can’t travel overseas and want somewhere to go,” he said. He said once international borders reopened, there would be pent up demand from countries in the region including Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand.