Revel, Atlantic City's Newest Casino, To Impose Term Limits For Employees

In this sluggish labor market, many job-seekers would be happy to land a full-time position. But for workers at one Atlantic City casino, getting a job may not mean keeping it.

Workers at Atlantic City's highly anticipated Revel casino, including bellhops and blackjack dealers, will be subject to term limits of four to six years, at the end of which they will repeat the hiring process, NPR reports. The policy will "attract the most highly professional people who are inspired by a highly competitive work environment," Revel wrote in a statement.

Gaming employees earned between $16,310 and $68,290 a year according to the most recent statistics available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The policy could just be an excuse for the casino to take advantage of desperate job seekers, experts told NPR.

Revel, the first new casino built in Atlantic City since 2003's opening of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, is expected to be a big boon for a city that has seen declining casino profits over the past five years, as well as a high unemployment rate. The casino is projected to bring in $2.4 billion, provide 5,000 full-time jobs and has already hired thousands of construction workers.

The bad luck of the prospective employees stands in notable contrast to that of Don Johnson, who last year won $15.1 million playing blackjack in Atlantic City. Not that he needed it: Johnson is a chief executive at a Wyoming-based company that wagers on horseracing. Nor is he the only high-level executive to win big betting on cards either -- Steve Begeleiter, former head of corporate strategy at Bear Stearns, finished sixth at the World Series of Poker in 2009.

Despite the hefty price tag, many are optimistic that Revel will mark a turning point for the struggling city, whose revenue peaked at $5.2 billion in 2006 and has continued to decline thanks to a combination of recession pressures and increased competition from newly-opened casinos in Pennsylvania and New York. Casinos are becoming an increasingly popular way for states to pull in much needed revenue as well as attract new tourist dollars, with Pennsylvania adding 10 casinos since 2006, while New York currently plans to improve Aqueduct Raceway, a racetrack and casino on the city's outskirts.

Recent news may have justified boosters' optimism in the Revel's ability to help revive Atlantic City. The town saw revenue increase last month for the first time in three and a half years, raising hopes that the casino will be a so-called "silver bullet" for the resort city.

The 10 lowest paying jobs:

Comments

[dhull1392]

03:02 PM on 02/15/2012

Sound like a corporate scheme to keep salaries low and intimidate workers to "stay in line". I'll bet some Republican came up with this plan!

[bewareignorance]

01:12 PM on 02/07/2012

It's being done to because of the unions. As we all know, unions are there to protect the lazy and incompetent and in turn make union bosses rich. They make it very difficult to fire a bad employee and trying to fire a minority? Impossible, because they'll play the race card. We've seen how the UAW brought down the GM and Chrysler. (Thanks Barack Hussein for the bailout, purchase of overpriced stock and part ownership of GM). And the public worker unions? They don't care how high property taxes get, they want their pensions. Ever noticed how the police unions never have any Give-backs. They would rather police lay-offs, so then they can complain about the lack of cops.Hey they still retire in their 40s and they all seem to have vacation homes.
Remember when the Borgata got all that flak when they tried to fire those Borgata Babe cocktail waitresses who got fat? Term limits will help prevent that.

[fattrucker]

10:53 AM on 02/07/2012

employers are hiring thru temp agencies or are keeping people part time to keep from giving them benefits. you can't really ignore the supply and demand effect. i'm surprised they aren't auctioning or raffling jobs off to the highest bidder. in some places it's a game of musical chairs with constantly increasing performance quotas.

[bhamnikwa]

03:24 AM on 02/06/2012

Even if they aren't Indian casino, still the same thing. Don't go work there if your smart. they will close up shop quick and have a change of heart on that policy.

[bhamnikwa]

03:19 AM on 02/06/2012

If you go to work for any company that has a practice of hiring like this, your not very smart. This method has been used for years in Asian countries, and there is no protection what so ever for the employee. It doesn't work, and all it does is screw you in the end for buying a home, and saving for retirement. Let them have their casino, and hire their own tribal people to work in it. That way in the end, it's their own people they are screwing.

[Hiccup2]

02:03 AM on 02/06/2012

what goes around, comes back around. History repeats itself. Seems like what the "white" man did to the Indians....unfair treatment, deception, and lack of compassion....has worked it's way back into our society. Why is everyone so surprised? This has always been the core of America and how it's treated every miniority group. Now the Indians are doing the same. Nobody complains when the minorities are being discriminated against, so why the negative comments now? I don't get it, this type of behavior is nothing new, in fact it is the main reason why labor unions were developed, now the unions are on their way out too. World will end soon, nobody cares about people anymore, it's all about the almighty dollar.

[fredusmc1977]

01:46 AM on 02/06/2012

When did slaverly came back

[tycoon0699]

01:26 AM on 02/06/2012

So basically when a new applicant applies and is willing to work for a smaller salary an experienced employee will be fired.

[loveisit4537]

11:35 PM on 02/05/2012

Gambling should be illegal, the damage it causes and the social costs are more than what they add to the economy. They use flashing lights and tricks to make people gamble more and then if someone wins a lot they ban them from the casino! We need real industrys that add value to our society not tear it down.

[bwfree3]

09:58 PM on 02/05/2012

the way the foriegners are invading this country im suprised we all arent on a part time bases with all jobs in america. they said what 250 thousand jobs created this month what good is it if they brought in a million foriegners legal and illegal plus americans out of work plus people being brought in on work visas. those jobs mean nothing

[heerox001]

02:58 AM on 02/06/2012

Just wait until China tells the countries with debt to them to pay up. I wouldn't mind celebrating New Years though.

[bwfree3]

03:32 PM on 02/06/2012

china wants to help europe out of its debt LMAO LMAO

[vinvin5060]

07:59 PM on 02/05/2012

Don't go there......If you have to gamble loose your money at another casino

[titan22]

05:40 PM on 02/05/2012

Very poor HR decision by the new casino - this will backfire on the entire establishment

[GOODDOC1]

08:03 PM on 02/05/2012

It doesn't seem to make much sense to me, either. They will be losing their most experienced employees, and have to pay training costs for each new employee that replaces them, and background checks, etc. I guess they will be saving money because they won't have to be paying higher wages for more experienced employees who have been there longer. It seems like a lose-lose situation in the long run.

[vtmilitia]

08:55 PM on 02/05/2012

It's like hiring "temps",just think, limited pay raises,limited vacation time accrued,no build up of pension funding and can them before they develop medical issues due to aging. Smart in a depressed job market but not very ethical or moral.

[Jdm82]

10:17 PM on 02/05/2012

Honestly sounds like another reason to blame the unemployed for being unemployed.. "We cant find anyone qualified to fill these positions people on unemployment are lazy" What about all those people applying for work? well they all have worked here before. lol.. It works out to there advantage only because cycling out employees every six years keeps them from having long term employees who are earning higher rates of pay..

[jedwightn]

02:17 AM on 02/05/2012

$16,310...near poverty level wages but more for the house.

[Don Kingsley]

02:30 AM on 02/05/2012

$16K for low-skilled work is better than no job at all. People have to start somewhere.

[hdupleas]

04:54 PM on 02/05/2012

great you work for this i wont

[fordline]

05:36 PM on 02/02/2012

Just another way to keep wages low and have no pension liabilities....Screw them.

[Don Kingsley]

02:29 AM on 02/05/2012

Then don't apply for work there. Simple enough.

[Allosaur2010]

10:46 AM on 02/02/2012

Yep...not going there.