Skyline lays off more than half of its staff

Skyline Enterprises, operator of the Christchurch Casino, has announced that more than half of its 1,200 staff across its company divisions will be laid off in response to Covid-19 closures and a sharp decline in the tourism business.

“This week we have confirmed, following consultation with our employees, new organizational structures. The result will be a significantly reduced workforce for the New Zealand operations in line with the expected diminished revenues from a primarily domestic market for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021,” the company’s Chair Jan Hunt explained in a statement to the Unlisted Securities Exchange.

Skyline Enterprises also operates the Queenstown gondola and luge, and similar operations in Rotorua, along with luges in Singapore, South Korea, and Canada.

Skyline Chief Executive Geoff McDonald observed, "We can manage people on site, we can manage the social distancing, the contact tracing, etc, but if people are not able to get on a flight to come to Queenstown, well, there’s not much we can do."

The Christchurch Casino is currently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. No breakdown was offered about how many of the company’s layoffs will affect that specific property.

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