Hard Rock Casino is ramping up its efforts to add hundreds of employees to its team in time to open its 180,000-square-foot casino and entertainment venue near Labor Day weekend.
The company extended offers to more than 120 prospective employees Monday during Day 1 of an RSVP-only mass hiring event at the Northern Illinois University Conference Center, which is about a mile east from where the casino is being built. It hopes to extend at least that many offers during the second day.
“This is probably the first big main step forward toward our grand opening, making sure we have the staff for it,” said Miguel Pascual, director of human resources for Hard Rock Casino Rockford. “In a few weeks, we’ll kick off another event, and then slowly — little by little — we’ll start finalizing that roster of brand new team members.”

