It fell 4.5 percent last month

Atlantic City: casino employment drops quicker in this year's shoulder season

It dropped 4.5 percent last month from a peak of 30,217 in July, which followed the late-June openings of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and Ocean Resort Casino.
2018-10-30
Reading time 1:37 min
Casino employment numbers at the resort city's nine properties have seen an abrupt decline during September 2018.

According to public data from the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, total casino employment was 28,859 in September 2018. It dropped 4.5 percent last month from a peak of 30,217 in July, which followed the late-June openings of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City and Ocean Resort Casino, the Press of Atlantic City reports. From July 2017 to September 2017, casino employment declined 4 percent across seven operational properties.

The number of full-time employees decreased 2 percent from July and the number of part-timers dipped less than 1 percent. The number of "other" employees — which includes seasonal, temporary, on call or leave-of-absence employees — declined 19 percent from mid-summer.

The seasonal employment adjustment is not unusual, said Rummy Pandit, executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University.

"Typically, as the season comes to an end, we expect a certain amount of reduction in employment," said Pandit.

Full-time casino employees accounted for 76 percent of the industry total in September, compared to 73 percent in July. Part-time employment remained steady at 10 percent in July, August and September.

The two new properties, Hard Rock and Ocean Resort, officially commenced gaming operations on June 27 and added a combined 8,184 jobs to the market, 79 percent of which were full-time positions.

Ocean Resort decreased total employment the most among the resort's nine casino properties, eliminating 315 positions, or 8 percent of its total workforce, since July. The casino hotel increased the number of part-time employees by 20 while decreasing full-time and others by 283 and 52, respectively. Ocean employs 12 percent of all casino employees in Atlantic City, trailing only Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (19.9 percent) and Hard Rock (14.7 percent.)

"New properties can take anywhere from six months to a year to stabilize in its market segments" and will adjust staffing levels accordingly, said Pandit.

Bally's Atlantic City and Harrah's Resort Atlantic City, two of the three resort properties operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp., reduced employment by 7 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, since July. Harrah's eliminated 231 positions, the second-most among Atlantic City's casinos.

The Atlantic City casino industry employed 6,356 more people in September this year compared to the same month last year, when seven properties were open. However, all of the properties that were open in September of last year employed less people in 2018.

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