Resorts World Sentosa sacks 375 staff as China crackdown, VIP debt toll mounts

One of Singapore’s two integrated resorts has cut nearly 400 casino jobs as China’s corruption crackdown take a bite out of gaming revenue.

On Thursday, local media outlet TODAY reported that Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) property had handed walking papers to around 3% of its 12k-strong staff in the past couple weeks. The affected jobs were all directly gaming-related, reflecting the slowdown in the city-state’s casino business over the past year.

Among those affected were 150 croupiers, 200 supervisors and 25 pit managers. A pit manager told TODAY that the property employed a total of 1,400 croupiers, 700 supervisors and 130 pit managers. In February, RWS cut 30 casino jobs but claimed it was part of its annual staff performance review.

A letter given to affected staff indicated that the “very difficult decision” was made “in anticipation that the business situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon.” An RWS spokesman issued a statement saying “the current business environment” made it necessary for RWS’ payroll to “achieve the right size to meet its business needs.”