GGRAsia – Some Wynn Macau Ltd senior managers let go says firm

Some Wynn Macau Ltd senior managers let go says firm

Nov 12, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd confirmed to GGRAsia that the company would not be renewing “a number of expiring contracts” held respectively by “overseas middle- and senior-management” staff.

The company also confirmed, in an email in response to our enquiry, that its two-star Michelin Chinese-cuisine restaurant, Golden Flower, at the Wynn Macau property on the city’s peninsula, had been “temporarily closed during the pandemic period,” and would reopen “when visitor volumes are more normalised”.

The casino operator added, after our further enquiry, that the company “still” had “a couple of restaurants that are temporarily closed, but these will reopen in due course as business recovers”.

The firm stated that the non-renewal of some managers’ respective contracts was “part of” its “long-term plan for management succession and localisation”. The latter was understood to be a reference to the Macau government’s wish to see Macau ID holders promoted to senior positions in the local casino industry, and the number of foreign workers in such roles reduced.

Wynn Macau Ltd did not clarify however how many people were involved, and whether “overseas managers” meant people presently unable to enter Macau under the current restrictions barring any foreigner without Macau ID from entering the city, or simply managers of foreign nationality.

The firm also did not mention whether such managers held so-called “blue card” or non-resident work visas.

The company has confirmed in previous commentary that it has been managing its costs amid the downturn linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wynn Macau Ltd – which also runs the Wynn Palace resort on Cotai – last week reported a nearly US$280.7-million net loss in the third quarter of 2020, compared to a US$103.7-million profit in the equivalent quarter a year earlier. The firm nonetheless said that for October, it achieved break-even in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

A Wednesday report by local Chinese-language news outlet All In Media, cited anonymous sources suggesting that several blue card staff in Wynn Macau Ltd’s food and beverage department had been offered compensation for the termination of their employment.

The Macau government has, since the onset of Covid-19 crisis, called for local casino-sector employers to avoid job lay-offs.

Earlier this year, another of the city’s casino operators, Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, said some senior employees had left voluntarily, in tandem with cost-cutting measures due to the pandemic’s disruption to business.

Many Macau casino employees report being encouraged by their respective employers to take a mixture of paid and unpaid leave to assist with the gaming firms’ cost-saving efforts.