South Korean casino employee numbers fall in 2020

Financial pressures brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic have led to the dismissal of many part-time workers.

South Korea.- According to statistics published by Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, employee numbers at casino operators Paradise Co, Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) and Kangwon Land declined in 2020.

Paradise Co saw a 9.7 per cent decline in the size of its workforce from 1,487 to 1,343. GKL saw a 1.2 per cent decline from 1,853 to 1,831.

The state-run casino operator Kangwon Land reported a 27.9 per cent reduction in its workforce to 3,713 employees at the end of last year, while only 75 part-time workers remained.

As for salaries, Paradise Co employees saw a 20.7 per cent decline to KRW52.1m (US$46,300).

Both Kangwon Land and GKL increased average employee salaries to KRW66.74m (US$59,300) and KRW62.2m (US$55,300), up 27.6 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) recently reported that tourism was down 90.4 per cent year-on-year in February, with 65,582 visitors.