MGM Mirage will handle the hiring program for Aria; Crystals, the complex's retail, entertainment and dining district; and CityCenter's nongaming boutique hotels, Harmon, Mandarin Oriental and Vdara. The individual retail and restaurant tenants inside Crystals will hire their own employees. The small staff that will work at the all-residential Veer Towers will be hired by the property's management company.

"When you see all the doom and gloom and read about all the unemployment out there, we don't think this is daunting at all," he said. "We're going to be able to provide thousands of full-time jobs at a time when we can do something for the economy as a whole."

McBeath said CityCenter's management team began working on hiring 18 months ago. Initially, all prospective CityCenter employees will need to apply online at www. citycentercareers.com starting Jan. 5. Those applications will be for Aria, Vdara and Crystals. Aria alone will employ about 10,000 workers. Applications for Mandarin Oriental and Harmon will be accepted in the spring.

Job categories available include food and beverage, hotel operations, casino operations, retail management, entertainment, finance, human resources, facilities and security.

McBeath said current MGM Mirage employees were given a chance to apply for CityCenter positions starting in October. He expects about half of the CityCenter jobs to be filled by MGM Mirage employees. As such, CityCenter applicants will be asked whether they are interested in working at other MGM Mirage resorts. The company operates 10 Strip resorts including Treasure Island, which was sold this week for $775 million. The deal is expected to close by of June.

Qualified CityCenter job candidates living in Southern Nevada will be contacted to schedule in-person application reviews; qualified out-of-market applicants will complete their application reviews by telephone. Current MGM Mirage employees will be interviewed for CityCenter jobs starting in February. Applicants from outside the company will be interviewed starting in April.

"We know this is a very complex project and logistically, we're hiring employees who will work on a campus that is 18 million square feet," McBeath said.

Employees hired for Mandarin Oriental and Harmon will be employed by those hotels while workers hired for Aria, Vdara and Crystals will work for MGM Mirage.

Vdara, CityCenter's 1,543-room condo-hotel, will be the first property to open on the 77-acre site, possibly by September.

MGM Mirage executives said the entire project will open within a 45-day to 60-day window at the end of 2009, culminated by the opening of Aria in December.