Posted on: June 14, 2022, 12:03h.
Last updated on: June 13, 2022, 03:07h.
The leading casino union in Macau is expressing concerns that the six licensed gaming operators might be inclined to lay off thousands of their workers after the companies receive new concessions.
The New Macau Gaming Staff Rights Association said last week that casino job layoffs are likely once the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) issues each of the casino gaming operators fresh tenders. The operating concessions for Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment, Melco Resorts, and SJM Resorts are set to expire at 12:01 am local time, January 1, 2023.
The Macau government and its Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) are in the process of finalizing the region’s next regulatory conditions. The new regulations will oversee gaming operations in what was the world’s richest casino market prior to the pandemic. Macau has since lost that title largely because of China’s ongoing maintenance of its “zero COVID” policy.
All six of Macau’s current casino giants are expected to receive fresh tenders prior to the year’s end. But unlike their original 20-year concessions, the new permits will run for only 10 years.
Casinos Delay Firings
COVID-19 rendered Macau and its glitzy Cotai Strip lifeless throughout much of 2020 and 2021. Things are slowly improving, as Chinese officials in Beijing finally believe the pandemic is becoming contained, and vaccines continue to be put in arms.
Contrasting with other major casino hubs like Las Vegas, Macau casinos did not terminate or furlough workers amid the pandemic. That was because the local Macau government directed the casinos to refrain from laying off workers at all costs.
With their coveted licenses expiring, and all six companies heavily invested in the region – many of which still have considerable debts to pay off – the gaming firms have done all they can to stay in Macau’s good graces. But union reps believe once those new concessions are in hand, layoffs will be widespread.
I hope that the government will add specific regulations and impose additional conditions when issuing gaming licenses that require gaming concessionaires not to lay off employees,” Cloee Chao, president of the New Macau Gaming Staff Rights Association, told the Macau News Agency. “Employees in the gaming industry … have expressed great concern and think the problem is very serious.”
The union’s thinking is that the casinos, once those new 10-year licenses are in hand, won’t think twice in reducing overhead by cutting jobs.
Gaming Rebound Delayed
China’s “zero COVID” pandemic response continuation has halted any meaningful recovery in Macau. While Las Vegas has more than recovered to pre-pandemic business, the six casino operators in the Chinese enclave continue to suffer.
Gross gaming revenue in Macau last year totaled roughly $10.8 billion. While that was a 44% improvement on 2020, the casino haul remained 70% below 2019.
Despite many fewer visitors in Macau in 2020 and 2021, the six casino firms continued to keep their more than 58,000 workers on the payroll throughout.
