The number of employees working for South Korea’s largest casino operators fell dramatically in 2020, with financial pressures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in many part-time workers being let go.
Statistics on employee numbers and wages were published on Monday by Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, which showed employee numbers at the nation’s leading foreigner-only casino operators, Paradise Co and Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), and at Kangwon Land, declined in 2020.
Kangwon Land, the only South Korean casino at which locals are allowed to gamble, saw a 27.9% reduction in its workforce to 3,713 employees at the end of last year. While there was little change in the number of full-time employees, part-time workers decreased by 1,392 with just 75 remaining.
Paradise Co saw a 9.7% decline in the size of its workforce from 1,487 to 1,343, while GKL saw a more subdued 1.2% decline from 1,853 to 1,831.
Paradise also saw the average salary of its employees decline in 2020, down 20.7% to KRW52.1 million (US$46,300), while the average salary per registered director dropped 17.8% to KRW1.52 billion (US$1.4 million).
However, the salaries of employees at Kangwon Land and GKL – both of which are public corporations – increased due in part to the absence of part-time employees.
In 2020, the average salary per employee at GKL grew 13.0% to KRW62.2 million (US$55,300) while at Kangwon Land average salaries increased 27.6% to KRW66.74 million (US$59,300).
All three companies have recently reported losses in 2020: Kangwon Land recorded a loss of KRW275.88 billion (US$249.7 million), Paradise a loss of KRW109.85 billion (US$98.4 million) and GKL a loss of KRW64.3 billion (US$57.9 million).
