Mario Sandoval was a waiter at Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel’s steakhouse in downtown Las Vegas for 36 years but has not worked since mid-March of 2020…

In January of this year, he received a letter informing him that he had been terminated. Sandoval, who is 53 years old, says he does not have the time or skills to pursue a new career, nor can he retire early.

“What we’re seeing is a lot of older workers who are in their 50s or 60s, they just have maybe 10 years to retirement or five years to retirement, and they are really worried that they won’t get these jobs now that they’re competing with everyone else for the job they had previously,” said Bethany Khan, a spokeswoman for the Culinary Workers Union.