GGRAsia – Galaxy Ent reintroduces gaming staff voluntary exit plan

Galaxy Ent reintroduces gaming staff voluntary exit plan

Jan 12, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd said in a statement to GGRAsia that it had “relaunched” a voluntary exit scheme for employees in gaming roles.

The scheme, dubbed the ‘New Life Starter Program’, had been first made available last year.

“Galaxy Entertainment has relaunched a voluntary New Life Starter Program for gaming operations and related team members,” a company spokesperson told GGRAsia.

“Eligible team members who participate in the programme voluntarily will receive a one-off ex-gratia payment according to their respective department and job position,” the Galaxy Entertainment representative said.

According to the firm, the programme “was positively received” by workers when it was introduced in 2021. Galaxy Entertainment did not say how many people made use of the scheme last year and left the gaming operator.

The relaunch of the voluntary exit scheme was in order “to offer a chance” to eligible staff “who would like to explore new career goals and start a new chapter in life”, said the Galaxy Entertainment spokesperson.

The firm did not provide details to GGRAsia on the terms of the voluntary exit scheme. According to information made available in social media posts by gaming worker group representatives, the company is offering casino croupiers a payment of up to MOP270,000 (US$33,750) – excluding eventual retirement fund contributions – if they wish to resign voluntarily.

In addition, the firm is offering pit supervisors in its table games department an ex-gratia payment of up to MOP380,000 if they wish to resign voluntarily. Pit managers in the table games department are eligible to a payment of up to MOP520,000. The offer for pit supervisors and pit managers had been made available to workers last year.

Galaxy Entertainment announced last month an “one-off special payment equivalent to one month of salary” for “eligible team members at senior manager grade and below.” The company said in a press release at the time that the bonus would cover “around 97 percent” of staff, “in appreciation of [their] contribution for the last year and continued commitment” to the group.

Galaxy Entertainment’s net gaming revenues in the third quarter of 2021 fell 26.9 percent quarter-on-quarter, to HKD2.91 billion (US$373.3 million), amid the disruption to tourism and travel to Macau wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, said the firm in November.