Massachusetts: Study shows bright spots and shortcomings in casino workforce

Nearly a decade after the first casinos opened in Massachusetts, most appear to be meeting and exceeding the hiring goals, according to a new “Casino Job Quality” report.

The findings were presented to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission Thursday. The report involved researchers with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Donahue Institute and Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts project.

The research team studied workforce conditions and payroll data from each of the state’s three casinos, ranging from January to December 2022.

“In terms of studying job quality, what we really were trying to look at is measures, including mobility, retention, living wages. When we went into this, we did a pretty extensive literature review of what people were looking at when they were studying job quality,” said Project Leader and Senior Research Analyst Thomas Peake as he walked the gaming commissioners through the findings.