The current economic status of the United States has trickled down to casinos and casino employees.  During 2009, casinos have seen a dip in their revenues.  The public is still frequenting casinos but not as many people are coming and those that are show restraint when it comes to betting.  This has caused many casinos to find ways of saving money and one way they can do this is to lay off employees.  The workers lowest on the totem pole have been cut first, but now top casino executives are being affected.

Some of the larger casino communities are now going to their highest paid employees and asking them to take concessions.  They are giving them the choice of taking a reduction in pay or finding a job elsewhere.  Some pay reductions have been put into effect up to 20 percent.  In some casinos, management staff members have been compelled to take mandatory days off with no pay, up to 10 days and some have had their wages frozen.
.
Casinos are trying to come up with ways to keep their existing staff by being creative.  Instead of general lay offs, they have asked even the hourly workers to take pay cuts and take days off without pay.    Employees usually understand the situation and many are agreeing to comply just so they can keep their jobs.  This dilemma isn’t hitting casinos in just one area, it has spread out over the entire industry and those looking for new jobs in the casino field usually can’t find them.  Pay cuts for managers have been varying with each casino, but they are generally anywhere from 5 percent to the top 20 percent. Hourly casino workers complain that the pay cuts won’t really make much difference in the life of a person who makes the top money in the casino hierarchy, but it certainly will in theirs.

The cuts are necessary across the board in order for them to keep their jobs.  The whole situation has also brought to light that management wages are way out of kilter when it comes to pay schedules for all employees.  Some casinos may be looking into this in the future even if revenues start to rise.

Traditionally, casino top executives receive bonuses when their casinos have done well.  Some of these bonuses are excessive and into the millions of dollars.  These bonuses have been reduced or have become nonexistent for many managers.  Some bonuses topped out at around 4 million dollars in 2007, then dropped to less than 3.5 million in 2008.  In 2009, there is not likely to be any bonuses and if there are, they’ll be a mere reflection of what they have been in the past.

The layoff rates are continuing to rise even though casino revenues went up a little bit during the month of June.   Apparently, the four casinos owned by Harrah’s in Atlantic City have laid off more than 300 jobs in 2009 and casinos all over the United States are following suit.  Nearly half of the casinos in Atlantic City have filed for bankruptcy including those owned by Donald Trump.

The State of New Jersey is trying to give all the help it can to its casinos.  A law has been proposed to allow smaller casinos in that state.  Senator Jim Whalen proposed this bill and is considering others that will merge the State Division of Gaming Enforcement with the current Casino Control Commission along with allowing casinos to acquire eminent domain property.    It is unsure if this will help established casinos or just take money away from them.

In this economy, casinos need to make themselves special.  They need to have something different from all other casinos and with their financial hands tied; it will indeed be interesting to see what they can come up with.  One way to lure more people to an area is to provide them with new and exciting venues or entice them with outstanding entertainment.  These enticements will be difficult for casinos to achieve even with the pay cuts in place for their top executives all the way down to the card dealer on the floor.  One must ponder the possibility of the government offering a bail out plan for casinos.  After all, they did it for banks and that was a gamble.

No related posts.