Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment Group announce major layoffs

In Australia, two of the largest names in the pokies and online gaming scene are Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment Group. Despite an apparent increase in the number of people partaking in some gambling to help pass time during COVID-19 lockdown, some companies have reacted proactively to the coming financial damage this problem could cause.

Both companies have announced they will be cutting as many as 20,000 jobs between them. This isn’t clear whether it will be temporary or permanent, but it’s likely to give the companies the chance to survive the coronavirus outbreak. Indeed, Crown Resorts Ltd. said that it has picked up as much as A$1.01bn in funding to help them get through these tough times. Star Entertainment have picked up around A$200m in funding. 

Sadly, this means that at Crown Resorts around 95% of all staff have been laid off. Casino operators are going through a majorly hard time with the COVID-19 outbreak, causing untold problems with funding and operations. While online pokies and online casino sites have a better chance of surviving, most land-based casinos are facing a trying time financially.

This could see casinos stay shut for a long period of time, and it might also mean that the industry stops seeing the rapid growth in new online casinos to try out. For some time, then, the industry is surely under threat from regression.