SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Veikkaus OY, Finland’s state-sanctioned gambling monopoly, has confirmed that it will reduce its workforce capacity by approximately 200 employees.
The headcount reduction has been approved by corporate governance, continuing to streamline the Veikkaus operations as a result of new government demands placed on the monopoly.
This week, Veikkaus began consultations with 800 staff members with regards to undertaking redundancies, restructuring roles and reducing employment hours/contracts.
Veikkaus informed Finnish media that its workforce operations would be significantly restructured during the remaining months of 2021 – with the most affected departments likely to be its retail and sales channel.
In 2019, the Finnish government ordered Veikkaus to remove all slot machines from restaurants, service stations and kiosks – a mandate that saw Veikkaus reduce its games inventory by 18,000 units (40%).
Leadership of the monopoly had come under criticism by Finnish MPs and national health agencies for failing to meet its safer gambling and social responsibility duties, having become Finland’s sole gambling monopoly by absorbing the FinToto (retail betting) and RAY (racing) organisations in 2016.
Veikkaus continues to observe direct orders imposed on its business by Finland’s Ministry of the Interior, which demanded that the operator apply a €2,000 maximum loss limit applied to its online verticals – a measure which has been enforced since May 2020.
Last March, Veikkaus disclosed that full-year 2020 profits had declined to €680 million as a result of the monopoly shutting down all slot machine venues to comply with Finland’s national lockdown orders.
