Resorts World Genting Reopens As 3,000 Employees Laid Off
The dismissals represent 15% of the company's workforce.
By Alyssa Pong — 18 Jun 2020, 02:59 PM
After halting operations for the first time in 55 years, Resorts World Genting will reopen on Friday, 19 June, with enhanced safety and health measures
According to a statement published on Resorts World Genting's site, the resort will reopen selected attractions, hotels, and dining outlets at 10am on Friday.
They will be enforcing strict health and safety protocols under their new guideline, 'StaySafe Promise'.
This includes thorough disinfection of rooms, gaming equipment, banknotes and chips, as well as 'Service Ambassadors' who will be stationed at the casino floor to encourage social distancing and perform random temperature scans.
As a visitor, you will be expected to use the MySejahtera contract tracing app, pay with 'eCash' instead of banknotes at casinos, practise social distancing, sanitise your hands with readily available hand sanitisers, and wear a mask.
Entry into SkyCasino and Genting Grand Hotel will also be restricted to Genting Rewards members only.
However, amid its reopening, Genting Malaysia Bhd (GENM) is laying off over 3,000 workers
The dismissals, which represent 15% of the company's 20,000 strong workforce, have already started, as reported by The Edge.
After suffering a net loss of RM417.96 million in the first quarter of 2020 due to disruptions to its worldwide operations, GENM senior vice president of human resources Quan Cher Siong released an internal memo saying the company had to restructure its operations including staffing needs, as cited by Malay Mail.
Free Malaysia Today reported Quan as saying that restructuring would mean "retrenching surplus labour, offering voluntary separation, and mutual separation schemes".
The company has yet to release a statement indicating if any retrenchment scheme would be offered to outgoing staff.
Earlier this year, GENM undertook company-wide pay cuts to offset the economic impact brought on by the pandemic
In an internal memo seen by Bloomberg reporters in May, Genting Group chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay proposed as much as a 20% temporary reduction of employee's salaries, based on their ranks.
The chairman himself currently has a net worth of USD2.7 billion (approximately RM11.5 billion) according to Forbes.
At the time, GENM saw the greatest decline in shares out of the entire Genting Group, at 3.4%.
This came after GENM undertook company-wide pay cuts for the first time since its formation in 1965.
Despite the pay cuts and layoffs, the company is confident that all its facilities would be operational, including their 20th Century Fox theme park which is expected to open next year
A report by New Straits Times noted that including its own employees, third party businesses, local suppliers, and contractors, Resorts World Genting's businesses support over 70,000 jobs in Malaysia.
The group emphasised the role they play within the Malaysian economy saying, "Our businesses generate significant activities in the local economy and we remain committed to playing our role as a key contributor to the Malaysian economy as well as remaining one of the largest employers in the post COVID-19 crisis," according to New Straits Times.
One venture includes the revival of plans to construct their 20th Century Fox theme park after Genting Group and 20th Century Fox agreed on a settlement in 2019.
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