Veikkaus to lay off 200 employees, change hundreds of work contracts

The state-owned company Veikkaus, which has a monopoly on the gambling business in Finland, announced on Wednesday the launching next week of co-determination talks that will affect 830 employees.

The company said in a press release that up to 200 employees will lose their jobs as a result of negotiations with staff representatives, which begin Monday 16 August.

In addition, the company says it wants to change "essentially" the terms of the employment contracts of 330 other employees.

Veikkaus "especially" blames this situation on the operating environment of the Channels and Sales function that "has changed over the past years, with its business volume dropping."

"This means that we plan to adjust the size of our staff and to make our operations more efficient," the company adds.

New positions

The company is considering offering some of its employees some alternatives to dismissal, for example transfers to other positions.

"We will plan the changes in a way that emphasizes our care for people in order that we can offer new jobs for as many Veikkaus employees as possible. One concrete example of this is Casino Tampere, to be opened in December, which has job openings for about 50 gaming industry professionals to work in a completely new type of a casino," says Veikkaus Director of Channels and Sales, Jari Heino.