Indians feel the pain of US online gambling law

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800 INDIAN EMPLOYEES LET GO AT PARTY GAMING COMPANY

Employees feel the pain of US political action against online gambling

More than 800 employees of Party Gaming subsidiary Ivy Comptech in India are feeling the sting of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed by the United States Congress recently. The employees are the victims of a retrenchment exercise that the company has embarked upon as a "right sizing" initiative, reports The Asian Age.

The move comes on the heels of a similar exercise at the Israeli company Random-Logic, where the 888 Holdings.com subsidiary let go over a hundred employees last month (see previous InfoPowa reports).

"The company is rightsizing its operations in order to go forward in the best shape in the current business scenario. Over 50 percent of the employees (800 plus) have been told to leave with a financial package," Ivy Comptech spokesmen told the newspaper.

Employees who have been affected are primarily in the entry and mid-level positions.

Ivy Comptech is helping the departing employees to get other jobs as much as it can, and has prepared a comprehensive out-placement process that hopes to place about 80 percent of the affected employees in other IT companies that operate in or around its hometown, Hyderabad.

"As part of the out-placement process that began at 3 p.m. last Thursday afternoon, Ivy Comptech held talks with Nipuna Services Ltd and about eight companies are expected to come on Friday to pick prospective employees," the sources informed. For those who cannot be covered by the nine companies, the services of job consultants would be required, sources said adding that it is not binding on any employee to participate in the process.

PartyGaming has booked costs of about $250 million after exiting the lucrative US market after the company said it would no longer take bets from gamblers there. The US accounted for nearly 75 per cent of its sales.

Since Ivy Comptech is a captive unit of PartyGaming, the effect on its Indian operations is more pronounced. With the key US market off its radar, PartyGaming is now looking at expanding its focus in Asia that has online gambling ambitions in Philippines, Singapore and China.