Genting Malaysia to “rightsize” workforce after Q1 loss

Friday 22nd of May 2020

Genting Malaysia will reportedly cut jobs and reduce wages after reporting a loss for Q1 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Management has volunteered to take a salary reduction of up to 20 percent, The Edge reports. The news outlet reported that Genting will lay off between 10 percent and 20 percent of its 20,000 global workforce.

Genting said it’s embarking on austerity measures after the crisis forced the closure of its casino for the first time in its 55-year history. It said the social distancing and other requirements that will be necessary once the property reopens means the outlook remains uncertain. RWG will reopen on a staggered basis.

"For these reasons, GENM foresees its business recovery in the short term to be extremely challenging," the operator was cited as saying.

Genting Malaysia recorded a net loss of almost RM418 million (about US$96 million) in the first quarter of 2020 compared with a net profit of more than RM268 million a year ago.

The group’s revenue also declined by 29 percent to RM1.96 billion from RM2.74 billion.

“The pandemic has been absolutely devastating to the tourism industry across the world,” a company statement noted.

The group, which has operations in the U.S., UK, Bahamas and Egypt, also noted that it was working on a revised timeline for its new outdoor entertainment park, which had been scheduled to open this year.

The park is the central plank of a major revamp of the Resorts World Genting property in the Genting Highlands, but has faced numerous setbacks and delays. Genting said the emergency order had disrupted the construction schedule.