Australia’s Crown Resorts will shed another 1,000 employees across its integrated resorts in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth as economic conditions and a tightened regulatory environment continue to bite.
The company’s CEO, Ciarán Carruthers, informed the company on Monday of his decision which will impact around 5% of its 20,000 strong workforce.
“The challenges at Crown reflect greatly reduced foreign tourism, a sharp decline in local workers in the city centers and restrictions on gaming play in Sydney and Melbourne,” Carruthers said.
“We are committed to our regulatory obligations and ongoing transformation, including Crown PlaySafe, Melbourne and Sydney transformation plans and ongoing remediation in Perth.”
This is the second time Crown has been forced to slash its workforce, having last year cut almost 300 jobs at Crown Sydney in an attempt to streamline operations. It also closed down one of the Sydney property’s two gaming floors and reduced the operating hours of the other.
Crown last month won back its casino license for Crown Melbourne after the Victorian Gaming and Casino Control Commission found it was suitable again. A similar finding of suitability for Crown Sydney was announced only last week.
However, Crown Melbourne has also paid AU$700 million in fines and settlements for the compliance failures that originally led to a finding of unsuitability, while the implementation of mandatory carded play, cashless gaming technology, and time and money limits has negatively impacted business volumes. Likewise, tighter controls around international money transfers and KYC requirements has driven a significant portion of foreign play away.
