(Singapore, July 15, 2020) Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), which reopened to visitors early this month, is turning to its last-resort, job cuts.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on the tourism industry, the integrated resort announced “the difficult decision to implement a one-off workforce rationalisation” in today’s statement.
The move was carried out on the same day and came after earlier rounds of cost-cutting efforts.
RWS also said it will invest in remaining employees’ skills with an eye on future growth. This includes technology-enabled job redesign, focusing on productivity and higher-value jobs.
“RWS takes a long-term view of our manpower needs,” the Genting Singapore-owned resort added, citing a target of “a stronger Singaporean core forming three-quarters of the workforce”.
RWS operations most recently reported a 53% year-on-year fall in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation to nearly S$160 million for the quarter to March 31.
That was before the pandemic forced international borders to close and a two-month quasi-lockdown to take place.
To offset the downturn, Resorts World Genting slashed monthly basic salaries of its remaining staff by up to 30 per cent, according to a report on June 28 by Maybank Kim Eng analyst Yin Shao Yang, who estimated that the move could lower full-year staff costs by as much as 40 per cent.
