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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Nov. 20, 1998 - An award-winning
newsletter projects that Atlantic City's casino wages will become the highest
of any gaming jurisdiction in the nation over the next five years as a
tight labor market grows even tighter. A new wage and salary survey
published in the Nov. 26 edition of Michael Pollock's Gaming Industry Observer
demonstrates that Atlantic City casino wages are already high, second only
to those on the Las Vegas Strip.
Las Vegas, however, is the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan area, which helps to keep the supply of labor in balance with the demand. Atlantic City's high payroll costs can be attributed to a nagging labor shortage, high levels of unionization and a higher cost of living. The survey, conducted by Gaming Industry Observer and the executive search firm, Gaming Search International, Inc. of Columbia, S.C., collected data from six Atlantic City casinos and compared the results with data from surveys compiled by the Hospitality Research & Development Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Gaming Search International collected data from Atlantic City casinos across 14 job categories, representing a cross-section of the line-employee workforce. Many riverboat casinos, as well as Eastern Indian casinos (which include Atlantic City's East Coast competition at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods), pay wages in some job categories that are less than $.75 on the dollar, compared to similar jobs in Atlantic City. Michael Pollock's Gaming Industry Observer cautions that an expansion of gaming capacity, retail space and other amenities in the Atlantic City metropolitan area over the next five years could widen that gap. The newsletter, however, notes that most Atlantic City casinos are working hard to get a handle on personnel costs. The number of full-time workers is down nearly 2 percent over the past year, and is on a par with 1996 levels, despite a significant increase in gaming and non-gaming capacity. Part-time employment is down by more than 11 percent over 1996 levels. In 1996, Michael Pollock's Gaming Industry Observer, which tracks political, economic, social, legal and technological trends that impact the gaming industry, was awarded first prize in the Interpretive/Analytical Reporting category at the Annual Newsletter Publishers Foundation Awards. In addition to having served as chief spokesman for the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, Pollock is the former editorial page editor for The Press of Atlantic City and is the author of the 1987 book "Hostage to Fortune: Atlantic City and Casino Gambling," published by the Center for Analysis of Public Issues in Princeton, NJ. He has won 17 journalism awards in his career. |
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Also See: | Surveying the surveys-Comparative salary studies give managers the tools necessary to set compensation / Mike Malley / March 1998 |
1997 Casino Industry Executive Pay Update / HVS / Kefgen / Oct 1997 |