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New Jersey casino to job applicants: Reapply every four years
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Wayne Parry/The Associated Press
The Revel casino, seen going up in Atlantic City in September, is telling people applying to be dealers, cocktail servers, valets and front desk clerks that the jobs will last only four to six years. They'll need to re-apply after that.
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTIC CITY -- When the Revel megacasino opens in May, many of its dealers, beverage servers and other customer service workers will be young, attractive and sexy.
And a policy the casino is implementing will probably keep it that way.
Applicants are being told they will have jobs only for as few as four years at a time, after which they will have to re-apply. That means competing with younger, fresher faces -- a requirement that has never been made in the 33-year history of casino gambling in Atlantic City.
Revel says it is crucial that employees who most often come into contact with guests put the best possible face on the organization.
"The defined-term roles are the most critical in the entertainment and hospitality business, and their engagement with our guests will help define us," Revel said Wednesday in a statement. "We want to ensure that these high profile professionals are always engaged with our guests."
Under the policy, first reported by The Press of Atlantic City, jobs subject to term limits of four to six years include dealers, valets, cocktail servers, bartenders and front desk clerks.
The casino says it will recruit for supervisory positions from among those workers and will encourage advancement through the ranks. At the end of the job term, any employee who has not been promoted will have to re-apply for the same job and compete with all other comers.
That, the city's main casino union says, will have the effect of purging the work force of all but the youngest, most attractive faces.
Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54 of UNITE HERE, said Revel is trashing an unwritten Atlantic City rule that casino jobs are to be long-term employment meant to provide a decent standard of living.
"They're treating their workers like baseball players but paying them like hot dog vendors," McDevitt said.
"These are supposed to be good, stable jobs, not indentured servitude. But they're treating them like pitchers at spring training, who can be cut at any time. Thanks, but you're outta here. See ya," he added.
McDevitt says the casino is engaging in blatant age discrimination -- something the casino denies.
Its job applications don't mention age.
An online application form at Revel's website says a cocktail server "is responsible for providing prompt, friendly and efficient cocktail service." It calls the position "a defined-service cycle role with an employment period of four, five or six years."
The cutthroat environment in which Atlantic City's 11 casinos are operating (12 after Revel opens) is making them look for any potential advantage over rivals.
In the past four years, Atlantic City's collective casino revenues have fallen from $5.2 billion to $3.6 billion, with a further decline to come at the end of this year.
The casinos have shed thousands of jobs and are concerned with making sure the remaining workers present as appealing an image to customers as possible.
Pressures on Atlantic City cocktail servers are nothing new. When the Borgata opened in 2003, it limited how much its cocktail servers, dubbed "Borgata Babes," could weigh. Servers who gained too much weight could be fired.
In 2008, two former cocktail servers at the Borgata settled a multimillion-dollar sex discrimination lawsuit against the casino.
They alleged the casino humiliated costumed waitresses by encouraging breast-augmentation surgery and emphasizing weight and looks over job performance.
A Borgata spokesman did not return recent messages seeking comment.
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I DON'T BLAME THE CASINO FOR IMPLEMENTING THIS POLICY. I work in one now, where people , in their late 60's, 70's, and 80's are still tying up shifts, when a younger worker with a family to support could be working it. These people are collecting social security checks, and pensions, plus their regular pay and tips. Some of them come to work with a miserable, sanctimonious, attitude towards everyone, because they've been there SO LONG, and have seniority, and think everybody, including guests should pay homage to them. They don't need the money ..and brag about how much they spend, and buy this and that...while other , younger workers are barely making ends meet. Nobody else ever gets a chance to make at a decent shift. Some of them only work three days a week, because they have a "medical" for the other two days. This ties up the shift for years..but they apparently have special "grandfather" rights.?????? If you can't work your full shift, then what are you still doing working...especially when you're already collecting social security and pension. These people are the ones who have spoiled it for everyone else. (one lady I work with has a special doctors note, and wears furry bedroom slippers and sketchers to work with her cocktail uniform.)..and a miserable attitude towards co-workers and customers to go along with it. THe union allows this stuff to go on, and management can't do or say much about it, because the greedy double dippers will file age discrimination lawsuits. Casinos are supposed to sell excitement... they don't need condescending, santimonious attitudes and people who won't retire long past their prime.
accoutmakr,you are truly ignorant.Joe C is right about you.I guess you feel the same about a plumber,or a mechanic or a bank teller.You are a sad person accountmakr.
Why is this a problem? It does not mean that ,next, corporations will only hire women who are 6 feet tall or men with blond hair or people who have green eyes or asian dealers or.....wait a minute!OMG.
@acountmakr,,,You are a complete fool and know little about casino workers except your ability to knock valets etc. Maids and other employees work probably much hard than you ever had. Most loyal customers appreciate a friendly relationship they made with some casino and hotel employees thru the years. Plus it isn’t the less specialized employees that overbuild and bankrupted many casino hotels here, but the supposedly educated morons that monopolized to the point where they’re biggest competitors are their own properties, now that’s smart. Plus I highly doubt you would last a year at the front desk before being fired, let alone 25 years. I’ll bet there are many parents that worked 25 years in factories etc so they can pay for their kid’s college education. Parents like acountmakr that now realized they raised ignorant self-absorbed brats, parents that now wished they’d rethought having kids, or at least forced them to work and pay their own way thru college.
It does not say ANYTHING about age. Remember, people, that these jobs require little/no formal education. I'm not saying that these types of people are uneducated, but you would strive to do more in life if you knew that you couldn't land some coushy valet job and just shuffle your feet around all day. Again, I'm not saying this is what ALL valets do, but just saying it is a way for the casino to have their less specialized employee slots being filled by a fresher crop of employees. If you've been a front desk clerk for 25 years and do not show any ability or motivation to move into a supervisor role, then you might want to re-think your life goals.
again, perpetual employment results in lifer, foot shuffler postal employees. only a buffoon would suggest that all u.s. employers enjoy that baggage. if the job listing says one yer or four year contracts, such is life. those that want some lifetime guarantee might volunteer for a lifetime jolt in prison.
Or better yet, NVFisherman, give me a qualified person that understands and speaks English.
I have to agree with NVfisherman. The youngsters look great, but they are always playing grab-a$$ with each other while you are sitting there with an empty drink.
This is really a stupid policy. Give me a server who has years of experience rather than a youngster just out of high school.
Bad karma.