Working in a Casino Is a Safe Bet

Jobs and employment are always hot topics when election season rolls around, but never ever in all my years of politics has the situation been far more vital than it is actually nowadays. As voters in Maryland head for the polls to make a decision, among other points, a question related to the expansion of gambling, here are a few points they ought to maintain in thoughts.

Throughout the financial turmoil on the previous several years, the gaming entertainment market has been a trusted supply of employment. We don’t just present jobs; they are good quality jobs. Our market has a proven track record of hiring locally, offering jobs with upward mobility, and committing to a diverse function force. Within the typical back-and-forth of campaign-year politics, we’re bound to hear competing narratives. But this is the reality.

The gaming entertainment market offers robust wages. Final year alone, commercial casino businesses provided 339,098 jobs with wages (like benefits and tips) totaling $12.9 billion. (Taking into consideration indirect jobs offered by gaming, including suppliers and suppliers, the market accounts for about 820,000 jobs and practically 1 percent of this country’s GDP.)

In line with a 2010 national study, the average annual salary and advantages to staff inside the commercial casino sector totaled almost $42,000, and estimates range nicely over $50,000 in areas with a greater cost of residing. These numbers are even more outstanding when compared to comparable businesses: Inside the broader recreation sector (which includes firms such as spectator sports, zoos, parks and museums), salaries typical about $37,000 per year. Typical salary and benefits supplied from the commercial casino sector also are larger than those paid by retail industries which include food and beverage, clothes and gasoline. Their common, when taken together, is about $29,000.

Hiring locally and delivering competitive salaries and benefits are just two facets on the equation. We’re also committed to hiring a richly diverse loved ones of staff. In line with essentially the most current research, the commercial casino market employs 20.six percent much more minority workers than the all round U.S. workforce. And casinos employ almost ten percent much more minorities than other firms inside the arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services sectors. The same study shows that in 2007, casinos purchased more than $267 million in products and services from minority-owned firms.

In spite of today’s economic uncertainty, it is also essential that we offer not just jobs but careers. The magnitude and complexity of your typical casino’s operation need a considerable diversity of abilities at each degree of the organization: A 2002 study on casinos showed that there had been a total of 19 distinct departments and 827 exceptional job titles – from architecture and engineering to retail and security – in the properties they surveyed. This shows an industry that delivers substantial prospective for development and upward mobility amongst its employees. Inside the years given that this data had been last collected, there’s no doubt the diversity of careers has expanded all the more as the market has continued to evolve.

Lastly, I’d be remiss not to point out that our industry consistently experiences particularly high (over 85 percent) employee satisfaction ratings. Additionally, it boasts impressive retention rates: A latest study showed the median tenure inside the casino gaming industry to become seven years, with 42 percent of staff obtaining worked in the market for a lot more than ten years. Not only that, an business survey of neighborhood leaders residing in counties with commercial or racetrack casinos showed 83 percent of them agree that casinos have had a positive effect on the community. A lot more than three-quarters (76 percent) say that casinos have done more to help than hurt the other businesses in their communities.”

I’ve usually felt that the future looks vibrant for the gaming entertainment business. As high-quality jobs continue to become in brief supply in our economic climate, I feel much more strongly that the possibilities offered by our firms can help us climb out of this mess.

The American Gaming Association is neutral on expansion problems, and voters have the right to create their own decision about regardless of whether to support gambling expansion in Maryland. However they deserve to possess the many facts once they do so. And also the reality that our business offers stable, high quality career possibilities is undisputable.

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