INDOCHINA 18
CAMBODIA
Nagacorp faces labor challenge, expansion setback Nagacorp, Cambodia’s largest casino operator, has faced a rocky quarter, with another shutdown, labour issues and a blow to its expansion plans.
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he group came under fire from labour unions over plans to cut jobs despite reporting a robust recovery after the first phase of the pandemic. The company is reportedly in talks to shed as many as 1,300 positions after the pandemic flared up again. Cambodia has weathered the Covid crisis well, with the situation kept under control until February this year when two Chinese women illegally left a quarantine hotel and partied around the capital Phnom Penh. Up until the February outbreak, the country had not reported a single death. Nagacorp closed its doors on March 1st after mass testing revealed 11 employees had been infected.
“We are asking for support and they have responded with the idea of mass layoffs. It’s extremely disappointing,” she added. Even though international borders are closed to leisure travel, Nagacorp’s NagaWorld reported a strong recovery for 2020, helped by expatriate workers living in the capital, where it holds a monopoly within a 200km radius.
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The casino staff cuts have earned the ire of worker union leader Chhim Sithar, who, speaking to Reuters, alleged the company is unfairly paying staff only a fraction of the severance pay they are owed, by basing the severance pay on the reduced salaries that were imposed last year. “Workers risked their safety to make profits for NagaWorld during the pandemic and then when they needed help, they were abandoned,” said Sithar.
Asia Gaming Briefings | June 2021
(Credit: James Dickson)
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We are asking for support and they have responded with the idea of mass layoffs. It’s extremely disappointing.
During the first quarter of 2021, NagaCorp said its mass market business had continued to improve, gaining sequentially from the second half of last year. Its mass market table business was only a fraction below its pre-pandemic level at 99.4 percent, while electronic gaming machines recovered to 98.5 percent. VIP
