INTERVIEW: Las Vegas Sands Struggles To Hire In Macau To Expand Ops

But an official at the company's Sands China Ltd. (1928.HK) unit, which runs its Macau operations, said it still aims to open a new casino and three hotels across from its landmark Venetian resort in the third quarter next year.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Sands China Acting Chief Executive Mike Leven said the company has just shy of 1,300 in total on site at the project, well under the 10,000 workers needed when construction reaches its peak, but local regulations will make it tough to get the people it needs.

The company acknowledges that it made a mistake starting construction on the massive casino resort project, whose construction was halted in November 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis, without yet having financing in place. We put a lot of people out of work, Leven said. Leven is also chief operating officer at Las Vegas Sands. Sands said it resumed construction on the site in March this year.

To protect its local workforce, Macau's government has said that one local construction worker must be employed for every worker brought onto a project from outside Macau, but given Macau's small work force and low unemployment rate, Sands China, as well as its rival Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. (0027.HK), who is also building on Cotai, are having a tough time hiring the necessary labor.

Sands China wants to build a better relationship with the people and government of Macau, said Leven. The company's aggressive expansion plans, which include building an even larger casino across the street from the Venetian, have appeared to conflict with the government's calls for sustainable development.

However, Sands China has also made significant efforts to bring convention, hotel, and non-casino entertainment business to Macau, another one of the government's objectives.

Sands China is also looking for top management, which it has had trouble keeping. We have a reputation for senior executives who haven't lasted that long, he conceded.

In July, Sands China said it terminated the employment of former chief executive Steve Jacobs, who led the company to record breaking results in the second quarter and left amid strains with Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson. Several other top executives such as Frank McFadden have also left the Macau casino operator in recent years after relatively short tenures.

Leven wouldn't clarify if Jacobs had been fired with cause. Attempts to contact the former executive have been unsuccessful. A building attendant at his Hong Kong apartment said he had handed over the unit and returned to the U.S. last week.

Leven said Sands China hopes to have its new chief executive, preferably an Asian, in place by the end of 2010. The company wants someone with Asia experience who is culturally sensitive, he said, adding that the person would not necessarily have to be a casino or hospitality executive.

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