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Crown Resorts will close one of the two VIP gaming floors in its new Sydney casino and axe up to 95 jobs as cost-of-living pressures bite.
The move to consolidate the two casino floors into one comes just one year after Crown opened them at its new flagship Sydney casino. The company told staff on Thursday that it will commence a voluntary redundancy program, with affected workers expected to be from the casino and casino support divisions.
Crown Resorts will close one of its two VIP casino floors in Barangaroo as cost-of-living pressures and an expensive path to remediation bites. Credit: Will Willitts
Contacted by this masthead, a spokesperson for Crown confirmed that the company will close its “mahogany” floor until business levels stabilise, with all customers to now use its “crystal” level.
“Crown has made a decision to consolidate its two VIP casino floors in Sydney in response to the current macroeconomic challenges facing our industry alongside other Australian businesses,” the spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, this decision will impact some of our team members, and we are working with them and their union to consult on their options in the hopes of placing as many as people as possible in other roles. Our priority is to support our people through this process, and manage these changes with care and respect.“
Some of the workers affected will be offered the option to be redeployed to Crown’s other two casinos in Perth and Melbourne, or fill other open positions in Sydney, the company said.
Crown is preparing to pay one of the biggest financial penalties in Australian corporate history, with the Federal Court imposing a $450 million fine for the group’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism failings at its casinos in Melbourne and Perth.
In 2019, an investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes revealed Crown had been infiltrated by international criminal syndicates and money launderers. Since then, government inquiries in the three states where its casinos operate have ruled it unfit to hold a casino license, stopping it from opening the high-roller casino at its newest $2.2 billion tower at Sydney’s Barangaroo in late 2020.
Crown was forced to overhaul its board, management and procedures to satisfy the regulators, who approved a conditional licence for Crown to operate its Barangaroo casino last year. The conditional licence is valid until December 31.
Last month, Crown unveiled a new approach to gambling harm minimisation, with the establishment of a dedicated gambling policy team. It now allows punters to self-exclude themselves from any of its casinos via its website, rather than having to front up to the locations in person.
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