A top New Jersey casino official said this week that Atlantic City’s eight operating gambling venues are to hire more casino workers this year than they did in 2015, thus showing that the local casino industry is in a state of stabilization.
Matt Levinson, who currently chairs the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, has conducted a survey earlier this year, the results of which showed that the eight casinos are expected to hire about 2,400 people in 2016. According to the regulator, as many as 600 of the created jobs will be full-time ones. A similar study was carried out this time in 2015 and it showed that 1,400 new casino workers were to be hired throughout the year.
Figures in the survey show that about 1,260 of all new casino jobs to be created this year will be seasonal ones, mostly during the summer, as the gambling industry still could be defined as a seasonal one, Mr. Levinson explained. As of March 31, there a little more than 23,562 people employed in local casinos.
Commenting on the latest survey’s results, Mr. Levinson said that casinos appear to be hiring people and not just for seasonal purposes. He further noted that the increasing number of full- and part-time jobs created is indicative enough of the fact that the eight operational gambling venues are on their path to stabilization and are “looking to grow their business.”
Mr. Levinson also commented that more people employed in the industry means more paychecks for these same people and that they, too, will help Atlantic City stabilize its casino industry and struggling economy as a whole. According to New Jersey’s top casino official, there are quite a lot of talented people in the area who could be employed at local casinos.
In 2014, four of Atlantic City’s twelve casinos closed doors. As a result, thousands of people lost their jobs. However, according to the results from Mr. Levinson’s survey, the surviving gaming facilities seem to be in a state of stabilization, particularly in terms of profits and revenue. Among other things, their improvement, although still not that significant, may be attributed to the fact that there is less competition in their regional market.
