Casinos Austria layoffs loom as rivals seek end to online monopoly
Casinos Austria is expected to lay off up to 600 employees as the scandal-plagued company tackles the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on its activities.
Casinos Austria AG (CASAG) told public jobs service Austria (AMS) this week that it could turf as much as 600 people – nearly one-third of its workforce – as a consequence of the financial loss endured from the pandemic closing of its 12 casinos and sports betting failures as big ligaments stopped playing this spring.
Under AMS law, layoffs can occur within 30 days of notice. It's unclear how many workers the axis will eventually face, as the organization is talking with its employees over future buy-outs and moves to part-time jobs. CASAG initially revealed plans for up to 500 layoffs this summer as part of its 'ReFIT turnaround programme,' but said this week that it believes the figure will be 'significantly smaller than 600.'
CASAG booked a profit of €112 million in 2019 but said that the company aims to record a net loss of around €65 million this year and that the cuts are expected to help cut €40 million by 2022.
CASAG is one-third owned by the Austrian government, while Czech company Sazka Group owns 55.5% after its takeover of rival Novomatic Group. Novomatic sold its interest in CASAG after being identified in the so-called casino scandal, in which the company reportedly conspired to obtain lucrative gambling deals with austrian politicians.
Among the concessions Novomatic was allegedly pursuing an end to Win2Day's online gaming monopoly, which is jointly owned by casag and Österreichische Lotterien, headquartered in Vienna. The Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling (OVWG), representing globally licensed internet operators targeting Austria's market without local approval (but paying local taxes), holds this concept of anti-monopoly.
This week, the OVWG released a statement calling on Austria's government to break the "long-overdated" online monopoly on Win2Day and to introduce "a contemporary online gaming licensing scheme." OVWG President Claus Retschitzegger said that a dynamic internet industry would collect an extra €50m a year which could help austrian sports bodies rebound from the pandemic effects on their activities.
Provided Win2Day's contributions to CASAG's bottom line, the government can well opt to disregard those appeals. Win2Day, which offers everything from sports betting to poker to keno, created last year revenue of €97m, 22.5% higher than in 2018, thanks mainly to the launch of new online lottery instant-win items.
