Hard Rock Atlantic City recently rewarded more than 2,400 staff members with employee bonuses. The popular Boardwalk casino resort rewarded healthy bonuses for both its union and non-union employees after Hard Rock enjoyed an extraordinary year that saw the Atlantic City casino produce an excess of half a billion dollars in gross gaming revenue.
In 2021, Hard Rock produced $431.1 million from its brick-and-mortar casino floor. This was an impressive boost of 92% compared to the pandemic-ridden 2020, but also 33% better than the $342 million the casino managed in 2019. Last year, the casino also produced a remarkable iGaming GGR of $67.3M. Sports betting, on the other hand, allowed the casino to produce $13.2 million.
In total, Hard Rock produced an iGaming revenue of $511.7 million. According to Jim Allen, current Chairman of Hard Rock International Chairman, the gaming floor experienced considerable surges in coin-in and table revenue as a result of reduced restrictions that have allowed people to resume gambling operations in brick and mortar establishments.
Jim Allen announced that the renowned casino brand would be handing out the bonuses to staff members during its employee town hall, held each year. The meeting was held at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena where all the Hard Rock team members were in attendance. In addition to the employee bonuses, Hard Rock also handed $50,000 in cash drawings to lucky employees.
An additional 2 lucky employees also left the meeting with brand new cars. In total, Hard Rock handed out $10 million in bonuses. At present, Hard Rock has 2,400 which means that the average bonus for each employee stood at about $4,100. Each worker received a bonus which was based on their position, as well as seniority.
Hard Rock will also hand out bonuses to its workers in other states where it operates including Florida, as well as New Jersey. These bonuses are intended to show appreciation for the staff members who endured the challenging pandemic period and still continued to offer guests wonderful service.
Hard Rock also handed out bonuses in 2019 before the pandemic disrupted the entire world and its industries. In 2019, Hard Rock gave out an estimated $2 million to nearly 2,900 workers when the brand came within 10 percent of attaining its business objectives for that year. Unfortunately, staff members did not receive their yearly bonuses in 2020 for obvious reasons relating to the pandemic shutdowns that took place all over the globe.
In the US, casinos were forced to close down their properties as a result of the public health crisis that was unfolding. Much later, casinos were allowed to reopen at limited capacities. However, the damage had already been done by then. In particular, casinos in AC were shut down for three and a half months and continued to operate at reduced capacities for months before the restrictions were finally lifted.
When casinos were finally allowed to resume operations by the government, Hard Rock tried its best to operate despite the apparent challenges that lay in store. Hard Rock was one of the few casinos that managed to generate some revenue in 2020, which is a testament to its hard work and commitment to superiority.
In 2020, Hard Rock produced combined revenue of $83.3 million, which was an increase of about 12.5% during its 4th quarter. The city’s other 8 casinos collectively experienced a decline of almost 30% in its table games and slot machines revenue.
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Hard Rock Has Sights Focused on New York Market
Hard Rock is still focused on building its integrated resort in New York, which now boasts the most successful sports betting market despite only being in business for a few weeks. Although Hard Rock has not identified the particular locations for its casinos yet, Jim Allen has confirmed that the plans are underway.
In addition to the 3 additional sites that the brand is considering for the gaming venues, Hard Rock is also debuting a new casino valued at $500 million on 48th Street. Even though the 48th Street location is prime for gaming, the hotel is not big enough for a well-sized casino floor. At present, New York policymakers are still contemplating the 3 downstate casino licenses and are yet to make their announcement.
Casinos in Macau Also Handed Out Bonuses to Its Staff
It’s not just casinos in Atlantic City that have been handing out bonuses to its employees. Macau Casinos, despite also enduring another hard year due to the pandemic, also provided yearly bonuses to most workers. The casinos in question, namely MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, as well as Las Vegas Sands all have sizeable employee bonuses.
2 of the 3 gaming operators Hong Kong — Galaxy Entertainment and SJM Resorts-also handed allowances to the majority of its staff. Wynn, MGM, Sands, and Galaxy all issued employee bonuses comparable to a month’s salary while SJM Resorts issued awards that corresponded to 1.5-2 months’ compensation.
But the gaming industry in Macau is still doing its best to bounce back from the pandemic. Unlike other casino markets, employee terminations and furloughs were not as widespread in Macau as they were in other countries. As such, the casinos themselves were more financially strained and drained than the staff members.
Fortunately, gaming revenue is rebounding gradually in Macau. Case in point, last year, casinos recorded a gross gaming revenue of $10.8 billion, an increase of 44% compared to 2020. With things greatly improved this year, casino workers can expect an even higher bonus next year.
Final Thoughts
Casinos in many parts of the world have been handing their staff members bonuses all through the pandemic period. Despite the struggles that the casinos have been enduring, these bonuses have been instrumental in motivating the employees to keep working hard while maintaining laborious safety precautions. Many casino employees have demonstrated their willingness to care for the community by getting vaccinated and have therefore earned the bonuses that have been presented to them.
