Wade Duty, executive director of the Louisiana Casino Association, said the job goals also don’t reflect the post-pandemic labor market in which customer-facing service workers have become harder to attract and retain. In addition, casinos have moved toward outsourcing housekeeping and restaurant staff, and those employees can’t be counted toward the target number in their licenses    

Duty told Gaming Control Board chairman Ronnie Johns at Monday’s board meeting that casino operators plan to seek approval to amend their employment counts. The number is called a “voluntary condition” because the state cannot legally require the riverboats to meet job targets — it’s been ruled unconstitutional in other states with casinos — but regulators do consider employment, among other factors, when approving and renewing gaming licenses.

“Are we going to revoke a license? No, not based on the current goals that are just unrealistic,” Johns said in an interview Wednesday with the Illuminator. “And we’re going to put new goals into place. We’re going to monitor them very, very closely, but you’ve got to realize that they’re voluntary goals. And as long as I’m chairman, we will push them to attempt to meet those goals.”

Three of Louisiana’s 14 riverboat casinos in operation have the number of workers called for in their licenses, based on midyear numbers provided Monday at the Gaming Control Board meeting. The state’s 15th riverboat license holder, DiamondJacks in Bossier City, has been closed since 2020 and changed ownership earlier this year. It’s currently undergoing an extensive renovation, as are multiple riverboats in Louisiana now that state law allows them to move their gaming operations on land. 

Riverboats employ nearly 9,000 people in Louisiana. Again, that number doesn’t include employees of outside contractors. New hires at casino sportsbooks also don’t count toward employment goals if they are set up as a separate entity from the riverboat casino. 

The casino worker shortage has been particularly acute in the Lake Charles area, Duty said, although two locations there — L’Auberge Casino Resort and Golden Nugget — exceeded their job targets. Casinos struggle to compete with job opportunities available in the oil and gas sector, where $20 to $25 per hour starting wages are being offered to new hires with no experience, he said.    

Beyond the trend toward at-home work, Johns noted another post-pandemic pattern that has cut into employment at casinos. None of the riverboats that offered dining buffets before COVID-19 have returned to them. Instead, they’re offering space to restaurants that hire their own workers. 

For example, Drago’s, a Metairie-based seafood chain, will open locations at L’Auberge in Lake Charles and Margaritaville Casino Resort in Bossier City. “So the jobs are still there, the taxes are still being paid, but they legally cannot use those numbers in their goals,” Johns said. 

The three locations that reached the hiring goals in their licenses — Golden Nugget, Margaritaville and L’Auberge Lake Charles — reported a combined total of 4,333 employees as of June 30, or nearly half the employees at all Louisiana riverboats.

Other riverboats are close to or anticipate meeting their target numbers once they complete hotel expansions and renovations. Hollywood Casino in Baton Rouge will relaunch Thursday as the land-based Queen Baton Rouge. 

Its competitor, the Belle of Baton Rouge, was two-thirds shy of its 450-employee goal and is in the midst of a major renovation that includes reopening its hotel and moving its slot machines and table games on land. The upgrades, which will feature new restaurants, are expected to add 200 jobs.     

Another reason Johns said he is amenable to considering changes for riverboat casino employment goals is that gambling revenue in Louisiana, when including the lottery, now exceeds $1 billion annually — outpacing the oil and gas industry. Casinos are also not allowed to receive tax breaks or other incentives offered to private businesses, he added.

However, Johns said he has concerns over whether Louisiana casino revenue will remain at the current level, especially if Texas ever decides to authorize casino betting.

“It may not be five years from now, it may not be seven years from now,” Johns said. “But eventually, I honestly believe Texas will legalize gaming, and it’s gonna have an impact on the state of Louisiana market.”