Frontline casino employees may be affected by extreme emotions or aggression from people who gamble and who lose money. This research examined the impact of long-term exposure to gambling on frontline casino employees. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 46 participants who held frontline jobs in casino license-holding companies in Macao, China. The researchers identified three themes, including (1) employees’ emotional responses to people who gamble, including indifference, sympathy, perplexity, and worry; (2) employees’ observations about organizational malpractice and negative social impacts of gambling (e.g., increased crime and financial harm to families); and (3) the impacts on employees’ personal lives, which range from negative to positive. For example, some participants did not experience much negative impact on their lives due to their job, while others discussed how they were tempted to gamble. A few participants viewed their experiences at work as warnings to help remind themselves or their families to not gamble.
