Atlantic City’s nine casinos reopened in July, but with the coronavirus limiting capacity and no in-restaurant dining, employment declined some 15 percent compared to the same month in 2019.
The resort casinos employed 4,261 fewer workers, according to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE). The 24,880 reported jobs “include a significant number of individuals on furlough due to Covid-19,” the DGE said, indicating the number of unemployed casino workers could be even larger. Thousands of casino workers remain classified as employed, but have no jobs to return to, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
“Most of our restaurant workers are just sitting out there, waiting,” said Bob McDevitt, president of Unite Here Local 54, the labor union representing nearly 10,000 Atlantic City casino employees. He said less than half the union’s members have returned to work.
Steve Callender, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and Atlantic City regional president of Caesars Entertainment Inc., said the monthly jobs report left little to be enthusiastic about. The employment situation may not improve until the state eases restrictions.
“We need indoor dining,” he said. That would get more visitors into the properties which in turn would get more employees back to their jobs. And with entertainment absent, along with meetings and conventions, thousands of employees who work in those departments remain furloughed.
The data revealed 14,852 full-time positions and 1,446 part-time ones in July. Another 8,582 include furloughed and seasonal employees.
“It is not uncommon for employment levels to ebb and flow with changes in revenue,” said Jane Bokunewicz, coordinator of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University. “This happens every year in the casinos because of seasonality. As restrictions are lifted and public confidence increases, it is reasonable to assume that the number of employees will increase proportionately.”
Bokunewicz pointed to a Brookings Institute report from March that said Atlantic City and Las Vegas would be among the hardest hit by the virus. “It seems to be proven true.”
Bob Ambrose, an industry consultant, former Atlantic City gaming executive and adjunct professor of casino management and hospitality at multiple institutions, said the DGE numbers aren’t unexpected. But he credited the industry for keeping “as many people on in some fashion as possible. This is not to say there isn’t a lot of hardship out there. But the industry will recover and there are definitely operational changes that will stay long after the pandemic has been handled.”
