Bet-at-Home is laying off 65 Austrian employees as part of a restructuring plan brought on by the ravages of the pandemic and its associated shutdown orders. The layoffs come on the heels of the company’s October announcement that it would be departing the Austrian market entirely.
Life for Bet-at-Home in the Austrian online gambling market has been anything but easy for the past few years. When the company announced its departure from the market, it was because of a lawsuit brought on by players who lost at unlicensed operators. If successful, players could recoup up to 40 percent of their losses.
Though Bet-at-Home officials maintain that they’ve always acted within EU guidelines and laws, their lawyers aren’t optimistic that they’re going to win the case. Sources estimate that, if successful, the lawsuit could cost the company as much as $24.6 million ($27.4 million USD). For that reason, the company lowered their revenue expectations by about €7 million ($7.89 million USD) for the first half of the year.
Regardless the company made its view clear in a press release saying, “The bet-at-home.com AG Group still considers the online casino (de facto) monopoly of the national Austrian gambling regulation to be contrary to European law and accordingly considers itself to be a lawful online casino provider in Austria.”
When announcing the Austrian layoffs, Bet-at-Home made it clear that the threat of a big civil payout was the main culprit. Company officials are confident that they’ll still be able to compete in the market despite the layoffs. “With almost 200 highly qualified and dedicated employees, the Bet-at-Home Group is very well positioned for positive economic development,” they said in a statement reported on by iGB.