GGRAsia – Talks on NagaWorld lay-offs amid pandemic: source

Talks on NagaWorld lay-offs amid pandemic: source

Apr 19, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

GGRAsia has learned, from a person with knowledge of the matter, that casino operator NagaCorp Ltd is still in talks regarding the possibility of job lay-offs at the group’s NagaWorld gaming resort (pictured in a file photo), the monopoly operation in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

A source familiar with the matter told GGRAsia that there are “discussions and negotiations ongoing” at NagaWorld that involve “possible voluntary separation arrangements as well as potential lay-offs”.

GGRAsia has approached NagaCorp for comment on possible lay-offs.

Separately, a Cambodian labour group representative told GGRAsia that more than 1,300 jobs were at risk. The figure had been mentioned last week in a report by Cambodia media outlet VOD.

NagaWorld suspended operations during the first quarter, after some workers tested positive for Covid-19. At the time this story went online, the property’s promoter had not announced any return to business.

Up to February 20, i.e., prior to suspension, Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp said it had “continued to record recovery” of gaming volumes during the first quarter.

A nighttime curfew in Phnom Penh – first introduced on April 1 as a countermeasure against the further spread of Covid-19 – has been extended to April 28. Tourist resorts across Cambodia are also to remain shut until that date, according to the latest decision from the country’s authorities, as cited by local media outlets.

Sithar Chhim, the leader of a grouping called “Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld”, told GGRAsia her group had received information earlier this month that the property operator has planned to lay off about “1,329” employees during April.

The labour grouping did not yet know who might be at risk, she told GGRAsia. But she added that workers had concerns about the thinking behind any such lay-offs. The labour representative said workers were also concerned whether they would receive appropriate compensation in the event of severance.