The Showboat was one of four casinos to close in 2014, raising unemployment rates to the highest in the worst.
article by the Wall Street Journal this week highlighted how New Jersey has spent less than 10% of $29.4 million federal grant earmarked for training laid-off Atlantic City casino workers. The money was offered by the federal government to nearly 7,000 casino employees after they lost their jobs in 2014, but only a handful of the people enrolled in the state’s reemployment program.
Thus, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has not helped that many of the seven thousand workers find new jobs. Aaron Fichtner, the Labor and Workforce Development Department’s deputy commissioner, said the state had underestimated the demand for such services. Fichtner said, “In the end, the demand for our services was not as great as what we asked the federal government for. We believe that many people got jobs in other industries on their own or through assistance of other government programs.”
$2.8 Million Spent So Far
The $29 million grant expires in December, but only $2.8 million of the money has been spent. The money was given to provide retraining and job-search assistance for the 6,835 laid-off workers. Search services and training opportunity alerts were part of the program.
Only 18% of those who took advantage of the services, amounting to 1,231 people. Of the people who used the Workforce Development services, 29% got new jobs due to the assistance. Nearly one-in-three received assistance, which is considered a solid rate.
Card Dealers Struggle to Find Work
Kim Arroyo, the Director of Agency Relations & Programs for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey’s South Jersey division, said the job market is difficult for those who were employed in the Atlantic City casinos.
She said, “It’s hard to find jobs because no one’s hiring. A lot of people are saying that they find themselves with skill sets that are no longer usable or relevant.”
Skill at dealing cards is only useful if you are going to work in the casino industry, so the out-of-work dealers find themselves having a difficult time landing in a new job. When casinos close, there is nowhere a person can find a commensurate job. Wait staff and cook staff have better results.
The Case of Kristi Hance
The Wall Street Journal spoke to some of the people who did not receive help from the program. One was Kristi Hance, who worked as a poker dealer at the Showboat, one of the four closed Atlantic City casinos.
Kristi Hance was one of those who sought assistance. She said she attended a retraining seminar related to the health-care industry. The seminar’s facilitators helped refine people’s resumes, while also providing tips for the job search. In Hance’s case, she was also given an aptitude test for the work in the health care industry.
Training Program Too Time-Intensive
Hance says she failed the aptitude exam. She was told she would need to attend a 20-hour-a-week program for 1 month before she could begin the training program for health work.
The out-of-work card dealer said she did not attend the pre-training education program. Hance said, “I don’t have time for that. I have to put food on the table, for crying out loud.”
She works part-time as a dealer at Borgata, at peak times when the casino needs additional help.
People against “big government” would argue it is a good thing that bureaucrats do not spend all the money in a grant, unless it’s needed. Proponents of education might say it is better to put in a month (without work) to improve one’s education and training level, instead of spending many months working only part-time at a job.
Whatever the case, many Atlantic City workers did not receive the benefits they could have received.
“Government Reacted about As Well As They Can”
Bob McDevitt, the Unite Here Local 54 union’s local president, gave the federal government high marks for granting the money.
McDevitt said, “Like any government money, it probably could have been spent more efficiently. But I felt that the state and the federal government reacted about as well as they can to this thing.”
The Atlantic City job market is improving, but it’s a small and incremental improvement. The non-season adjusted unemployment rate in Atlantic City stands at 10%, while the statewide rate is closer to the national average of 4.8%.
