Boyd Gaming announces casino worker layoffs
A United States casino company with 29 properties in 10 states is laying off thousands of employees.
The Rolla Daily News reports that the coronavirus pandemic and the slow rebound from casino closures is behind the layoffs.
Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming said in a statement this week that an unspecified number of furloughed workers will not return.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reported 2,500 company workers in Nevada could be affected.
“While we have been able to reopen most of our properties, we’re still facing significant restrictions on our business, and visitation levels remain well below pre-pandemic levels,” Boyd said.
In May, the company posted under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 that it might let go 25 per cent to 60 per cent of its workforce.
It said Monday’s layoffs were at the “lower end” of the projection.
The publicly traded company had about 10,000 employees in Nevada and another 14,300 nationally, according to its last annual report.
It has properties in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Company spokesman David Strow said on Tuesday that all company casinos have reopened, except three in Las Vegas.
The Nevada closures in mid-March followed an order by Governor Steve Sisolak aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19.
NagaWorld to reopen in Cambodia following virus closure
Cambodia’s largest casino operator plans to partially reopen its flagship Phnom Penh gaming venue today following its three-month COVID-19 shutdown.
Calvin Ayre reports NagaCorp has decided, in agreement with Cambodia’s Ministry of Health, to reopen the company’s VIP table game and pokie machine elements at its NagaWorld casino.
Mass market gaming operations will reopen at an unspecified later date.
NagaCorp claims the agreement was signed with the government on June 30, four days prior to the government officially announcing its decision to permit the country’s casino to reopen.
The government ordered all casinos to close on April 1 to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
NagaWorld’s restart was subject to the Ministry approving certain health and safety measures, which reportedly occurred following a physical inspection of the casino on July 4.
Pokies capacity will be reduced to 50 per cent, while gaming tables will be limited to three customers apiece – effectively 43 per cent capacity and no ‘standing’ bets will be permitted.
The casino’s food and beverage outlets have been given the all clear to operate at 50 per cent capacity, but the buffet remains off limits.
Casino guests will be subject to temperature checks and must wear masks, while the property has also established five “isolation rooms” in case any guests display signs of possible COVID-19 infection.
Cambodia’s government has yet to authorise any similar reopenings for the dozens of casinos that populate the border areas such as Bavet and Poipet, or for any gaming venues in Sihanoukville.
A senior member of the Ministry of Economy and Finance told the Phnom Penh Post that “no other casino has submitted a letter asking to reopen because their owners have yet to prepare their establishments for it.”
NagaCorp’s official statement said the government was taking a “step-by-step approach” to restarting its casino industry and that NagaWorld’s reopening “shall serve as a template for application for reopening of business by other casinos, if there is any request for permission to reopen.”
