Jeju Casino Resorts Having Trouble Finding Employees for the Post-Covid Ramp

Due to the difficulty in finding new employees, two sizable resorts with casinos open only to visitors from abroad on Jeju Island in South Korea have informed that they will have difficulty ramping up operations after COVID-19. It was difficult at one of the resorts to entice back employees who departed during the outbreak.

Former or new employees are welcome, as the number of international visitors to the vacation island (shown) increased year over year from March 1 to March 30 to 28,813. Data from the Jeju Tourism Organization show that this is in contrast to a very low base of 3,258 for the entire month of March last year.

In response to an inquiry, a representative from the casino at Jeju Shinhwa World resort stated that one of the main causes of recruitment challenges was the fact that young job hopefuls frequently searched for possibilities on the Korean mainland, in Greater Seoul, or even abroad.

The individual also indicated that the casino was interested in rehiring any employees who may have departed due to the epidemic, although the representative noted that, in comparison to other occupations, the Jeju casino industry was no longer such a high-paying one with excellent benefits. Shin Hwa World Ltd., which is listed in Hong Kong, operates Jeju Shinhwa World.

The spokesperson of that resort stated that, after a hiring freeze during the Covid-19 outbreak, it was difficult to find fluent English speakers on short notice to assist foreign guests and to appoint mid-level managers. The person believed that in order for Jeju casinos to remain wage competitive, a return of Chinese visitors to pre-pandemic levels would be essential in order to earn the amount of revenue required to increase employee pay rates.

According to Shin Hwa World Ltd.’s annual report, which was submitted on Thursday, integrated resort business sector revenue for 2022 was roughly HKD946.2 million (US$120.5 million), up 10.5 percent from the nearly HKD856.4 million produced in the previous year.

A representative from Lotte Tour Development Co Ltd, which is responsible for marketing the Jeju Dream Tower resort and casino, told GGRAsia that the company has been trying to hire nearly 500 people for the resort since late March, with 100 of those individuals being tasked with running the gaming operation.

Lotte Tour Development announced net casino sales of roughly KRW43.68 billion (US$33.7 million) for the entire 2022 calendar year in mid-March. That was an increase of 107.7% over the over KRW21.03 billion reported in 2021.

Eight casinos in Jeju are exclusive to foreigners.

During the three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Jeju casino employees, according to a recent story in the Korean-language news portal Jeju Daily, either quit their jobs or moved on to other businesses.

According to the site, several people were now hesitant to return to the Jeju casino industry.