Over 40 and the Casino Job Is Gone

Lori Baucom’s unemployment began on Atlantic City’s darkest weekend last summer, when two casinos, side by side, both shut their doors.

“There were some warnings, but none of us believed it would happen because we felt so safe,” said Baucom at the time, standing on the boardwalk. Her latest job had been at Revel, a glossy new casino-resort that could not reverse the decline of Atlantic City and was closing after just two years. “This was the place that was going to take this place to the new level, you know?”

Next door, some laid-off Showboat employees had been there since the casino opened 27 years ago.

“These guys are mourning a lifetime and I'm here to support that because we're morning something different; we're mourning a hope.”

More than 8,000 people lost their jobs at Atlantic City casinos this year. The gaming town lost four of its twelve casinos and a fifth ends the year in bankruptcy. The loss of so many jobs in one industry has made the job search especially difficult for older workers, many of whom have spent decades in the business.

Baucom is a massage therapist who worked off and on at casino spas for decades. During her first few weeks of unemployment, she says she felt panicked.

Almost three months later, in November, Baucom was still out of work and trying to find comfort in the extra time she had with her family.

But at 45 and separated with three children, she also had to make hard daily choices whether to buy groceries or make a car payment. While some friends and coworkers were leaving New Jersey for places like Florida, her children's ties to the area had kept her job hunting in South Jersey.

“The three jobs I’ve been offered — I’d be bringing in less that I’m making with the unemployment. Well, people say 'take it anyway, it’s better than nothing," but for the traveling and the tolls and the time and the wear and tear on my car I haven't been able to make that leap yet.”

But being currently unemployed adds another barrier.

“We just know that employers tend to screen out the unemployed and the long-term unemployed. So without a doubt I would say volunteer if can't find part time or full time job,” said  Maria Heidkamp, who studies the labor market at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.  “I would take something over nothing at this point.”

Labor economists have found the average length of unemployment for job seekers over 55 is almost one and a half times what it is for younger workers (42 weeks versus 30 weeks). Since the recession, long-term unemployment has reached record levels, especially among older job-seekers.

“From everything we've seen older job seekers typically have a harder time with the reemployment search,” Heidkamp said.

Part of the problem, Heidkamp says, is that older workers are more likely to have a family, a mortgage and other things that make it difficult to move somewhere where their skills are in demand.

And with a family depending on them, it becomes harder to switch to a more in-demand field.

“They don't have the luxury of a long stretch. They can't take two years and go back to school in most cases.”

When I checked in with Lori Baucom just after Christmas, she was still struggling with her decision to turn down part-time jobs that don’t pay more than her unemployment insurance

There are rumors that a new buyer could reopen her old casino but she’s not counting on that. Frustrated by the pay cuts on the table, Baucom’s decided to strike out as an entrepreneur. She’s starting her own massage practice in Hammondton, N.J. She's nervous, but also proud to see her office door with just her name there. 

“I just actually today made a Facebook page for myself so I feel like an official business so that was sort of exciting. Hopeful, I guess.”