Australian operator Crown Resorts announced it will look to cut as many as 1,000 jobs across its casinos in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth as well as its corporate division as the company looks to navigate regulatory and economic challenges.
The cuts, which were announced in an internal memo by CEO Ciaran Carruthers and reported by the Australian Financial Review, represent a 4 percent reduction in the company’s overall workforce.
Half of the cuts are expected to be corporate-related with the remaining half to be split among the three properties. Perth is expected to see the fewest given its stronger economy.
The affected departments are expected to include food and beverage, design, property services and financial crime, and Crown will also look to downsize the number of staff involved in remediation and corporate transformation efforts now that the company has returned to suitability in both Sydney and Melbourne.
“The challenges at Crown reflect greatly reduced foreign tourism, a sharp decline in local workers in the city centres, and restrictions on gaming play in Sydney and Melbourne,” Carruthers said in the memo, per the AFR.
Over the last year, Carruthers has talked several times about the need for Crown to adjust its business model to pivot away from its previous reliance on foreign high rollers who have not come back since the company’s regulatory troubles began in 2021.
The latest cuts follow a similar move from late last year in which 275 positions were cut—the company also closed one of the gaming floors at Crown Sydney at that time, but has vowed to reopen it in the future.
