James Packer looks to pass the buck to his casino workers
Sunday 11th January 2009
James Packer has been in the news recently with concern that his casino operations in Macau are not going as well as planned and certain developments have been hauled in, delayed or cancelled. The fall in activity in the Far Eastern casino market has already cost his company billions of dollars but now workers in Macau are being asked to take a pay cut (or more like being told to take a pay cut!). So what is going on?
Such is the dire state of the casino industry in Macau that government officials have given the Australian entrepreneurs Melco Crown Entertainment Group permission to reduce staff wages by up to 8% in order to ensure long-term security for the business. While this is something of a sensible approach to the future, from the business point of view, workers are going to see their incomes fall sharply at a time when money has never been tighter.
While the loss of general business has hit the Macau casino industry very hard, it is more the stay at home high-rollers who are causing much of the damage. High rollers are the cream on top of the cherry for the casino industry because while they can win big, many of them have lost substantial amounts of money over the years.
James Packer has been in the news recently with concern that his casino operations in Macau are not going as well as planned and certain developments have been hauled in, delayed or cancelled. The fall in activity in the Far Eastern casino market has already cost his company billions of dollars but now workers in Macau are being asked to take a pay cut (or more like being told to take a pay cut!). So what is going on?