Thousands of Lost Atlantic City Casino Jobs Are Coming Back

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City is trying to put years of casino closings and job losses behind it.

Since 2014, five of its 12 casinos have closed, putting 11,000 people out of work.

For many laid-off workers, the first step on the road to recovery started Tuesday when one of the shuttered gambling halls, the former Trump Taj Mahal, began interviewing job applicants for its reincarnation this summer as a Hard Rock casino resort.

Tuesday's event was for former Taj employees. About 1,600 such workers were invited to apply for jobs, and 1,400 did.

Monica Weekes, a former Taj dealer, described herself during her interview as "fun first."

Hard Rock will create more than 3,000 jobs, and the former Revel casino, which is reopening as the Ocean Resort casino, will add thousands more.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)