Business

Hard Rock invests $100 million to boost pay for hotel, casino workers

A guitar-shaped hotel tower anchors the remade and expanded Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood.
A guitar-shaped hotel tower anchors the remade and expanded Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood. pportal@miamiherald.com

About 5,000 people who work at six Florida Seminole hotel and casino properties are getting big pay raises next month, as part of a $100 million investment Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming are making in their U.S. employees to help them cope with the rising cost of living.

Effective in October, employees ranging from housekeepers and front-desk employees to security personnel and other non-tipped workers will see their wages increase by as much as 60%. Some employees’ hourly wages will jump from $12 to $18, an amount nearly twice the U.S. minimum wage of of $7.25 an hour and $8 more than the Florida minimum wage of $10 an hour.

Hard Rock has 20,000 employees in the U.S. and at least half of them will receive the wage increases, company officials said.

Included among that group will be about 2,600 employees working at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, according to a Seminole Gaming spokesman.

Hard Rock Chairman and Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen credited the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Hard Rock’s owner, for making this significant investment in the people who work for the enterprise.

In addition to the pending pay hikes, many of the company’s workers also received bonuses during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We have changed people’s lives and I’m proud to be a part of it,” Allen said.

Of Seminole Gaming’s 10,000 Florida employees, nearly half of them work at the three South Florida casino and hotel properties, including Seminole Hard Rock near Hollywood.

This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 6:06 PM.

Michael Butler
Miami Herald
Michael Butler writes about minority business and trends that affect marginalized professionals in South Florida. As a business reporter for the Miami Herald, he tells inclusive stories that reflect South Florida’s diversity. Just like Miami’s diverse population, Butler, a Temple University graduate, has both local roots and a Panamanian heritage.
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