Casinos Help Create Good Paying Jobs, Increase Tax Base

The economy is slowly growing out of the recession that swept over the US and the world starting in 2008, but as the politicians and analysts tell us, there is a long way left to go. Casinos are helping to fill that void, and as cities and states are finding themselves strapped for cash more and more of them have been considering casinos.

Casino jobs are generally employ locally hired people, and the jobs have a good degree of upward mobility compared with some other industries. Casinos are also committed to a diverse work force, and the jobs they offer are not low paying jobs.

Last year, commercial casino operations provided over 339,000 jobs with wages totaling 12.9 billion, including tips and benefits, but there are many other jobs which the casinos create but which are not directly connected to the casinos.

These are generally provided by local suppliers and manufacturers, and on new projects construction jobs. When these are added into the mix, the total amount of jobs created by this industry last year alone was over 800,000 jobs, or nearly one percent os the US GDP, or gross domestic product.

The pay is also much higher than many jobs offer, with commiserate benefits. According to a 2010 study, the average annual salary and benefits to an employee in a commercial casino totaled nearly $42,000 to over $50,000 in areas with higher living costs, which consistently beats other entertainment industries such as spectator sports (excluding he athletes), zoos, parks and museums.

The wages are also much higher than the average wage paid by many retail industries such as food and beverage, clothing and gasoline – these industries only average about $29,000 a year, and benefits are often non-existent at such jobs.

These numbers are not the only thing to consider, though. Because most modern casinos are part of an overall entertainment complex, there are many good careers in this industry that span many different facets. A 2002 study showed that there was an average of 19 departments and 827 job titles in an ‘average’ casino, and that they supplied jobs in fields as diverse as architecture, engineering, security, retail, restaurant and many others.

Since then, there is little doubt that this list has been expanded on. These jobs don’t just help the individuals and families who are directly affected by them though, they help to increase the tax base of the cities and municipalities where the casino complexes are located, on top of the specialized taxes which comes from the gaming operations itself.

Employees in this industry have a very high satisfaction rate, reaching over 85 percent, and casinos always have impressive retention rates; the median tenure within the gaming industry is 7 years, compared to the national average of just 4.4 years (this number is even lower for younger workers), and 42% of casino employees have been in the industry for more than 10 years.

With numbers like these, it is not just the cities, states and counties that benefit from casino jobs – employees do as well, and with the size and scope of most modern casinos it is no wonder that more cities and states are rethinking their position on modern casino establishments. These entertainment complexes provide good jobs both directly and indirectly, and pay a higher than average tax in direct taxes.

That is good for the states, the cities and the citizens.