In Macau and prominent casino junket operator Tak Chun Group has reportedly announced the initiation of a program that is to see it offer one-off cash payments to staff members who voluntarily agree to resign.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the voluntary redundancy move from the Macau-headquartered firm caps off an eleven-month period in which its home market has been severely ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic and seen aggregated gross gaming revenues fall by a comparative 80.5% to just $6.59 billion. The source detailed that the firm has yet to lay out the specifics of its plan although it did declare that the scheme was designed to offer employees ‘a viable option for planning ahead under current market conditions.’

Official advice:

The effort from Tak Chun Group reportedly follows an earlier request from Macau’s Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, for local casino operators to avoid initiating extensive staff redundancies so as to make it possible for the city’s gambling industry to quickly bounce back following the conclusion of the coronavirus pandemic. This plea purportedly prompted many of the enclave’s firms to initiate paid and unpaid leave schemes as a way of temporarily reducing costs.

Reportedly read a statement from Tak Chun Group…

“Except this ad hoc scheme, Tak Chun Group declares that, at present, there is no other extraordinary staff policy or measure.”

Larger picture:

Citing official information from the local Statistics and Census Service and the source moreover reported that Macau’s general unemployment rate for the three months to the end of October stood at 2.9% although the proportion for native workers was a higher 4.1%. Of the 20,800 people currently looking for work in the former Portuguese enclave and the data purportedly also revealed that the majority had previously been employed in ‘retail trade,’ hotels and ‘gaming and junket activities.’