https://timesofmalta.com/article/around-120-jobs-cut-gaming-company-sets-exit-malta.1125944
Zunächst sind meine Gedanken bei den Arbeitnehmern und ich hoffe, dass sie so schnell wie möglich eine andere Beschäftigung finden. Wenn das weg vom iGaming wäre, umso besser.
Aber ich kann nicht anders, als zu denken, dass Igaming nur eine große Blase ist, sogar größer als Immobilien/Bau.
Warum beharren wir immer noch auf dem schnellen Geld des Gamings, anstatt uns auf aufstrebende Nischen wie die industrielle Bioproduktion zu konzentrieren?
120 igaming jobs to be axed as company exits Malta
byu/International_Bus104 inmalta
Von International_Bus104
7 Kommentare
I know people there affected.
Reality is, UK is not that attractive anymore due to increased tax rates. This impacts whitelabel brands, platforms and service providers. So, some companies pulling out of UK, like Aristocrat Interactive for whitelabel.
Lastly, Malta is losing its hub superiority as the MGA license is becoming worthless with many countries regulated, and companies getting cheaper labour in Eastern Europe. There is also a drive to have people work in the country where the brand operates to be more accustomed to the local market.
Regarding your last question, I believe it all comes down to the price.
Land is expensive here when comparing to other countries, we have limited space, purchasing large areas isn’t cost effective. Also, living on an island makes it harder to be reliant on importing and exporting stuff such as samples or other material.
Gaming companies bypass this, they pay lower taxes as the law states if you compare to other countries, it makes it attractive for them to operate here. It’s also good for the government as it increases employment and is beneficial to the economy.
Stuff like agriculture, or even for example ai stuff won’t be really feasible imo with the limited hardware and expensive shipping here. Almost all tech is much more expensive here when comparing to the rest of EU, especially including shipping, gaming companies don’t rely on this and operate solely online, yes they pay also for servers and employees, but I also do think they have different bases and the lower taxes rates outweigh the costs.
Just my two cents tho, maybe somebody else would be able to provide more information here.
I’m one of the people effected by this and it’s just a sad matter of big company buys smaller company consisting of smaller companies and decides to axe the loss-making company and the rest of the Malta office with it. They have inadvertently axed the whole Finance department of one of its best companies all because they didn’t do their homework. Just a complete shitshow!
I work for one of the biggest company and they’re cutting cost everywhere. They started summer last year and almost every month they made one department redundant just to reopen the same department with half of the personnel
A biomanufacturing company I know pulled out of Malta (a few years ago) despite generous government grants and chose another, more expensive base. Why? It wasn’t the supply chain or land question but the unreliability of the government. It was just too risky to invest in establishing Malta as the base for European operations when, if the government changed, all the rules did too.
It was considered more cost effective to just go with a more stable country where there was a lower likelihood of unpredictable increases in operating costs. Moving manufacturing and research is too expensive to take the risk, apparently.
Every couple of years they says that Malta is losing its status on iGaming, few years ago Cyprus was the new Malta, long story short big companies are still here.
Maybe iGaming it’s not in its best period, but it’s here to remain.
Malta has an economy that is both solid and fragile at the same time. A simple example: the large number of customer service workers in the iGaming sector are at high risk of layoffs due to the increasing implementation of AI in production processes.
If this were to happen, not only would many of these people leave the island, already affected by high rental prices and structural inefficiencies, but it would also result in a large number of vacant apartments that landlords would no longer be able to rent at inflated prices.
As a consequence, many mortgages could become unsustainable, potentially triggering a chain reaction, especially in the absence of preventative measures. Several aspects of the local economy appear to be quite fragile, meaning that even layoffs affecting around 120 people could have a noticeable impact.
We are not talking about low-income workers, but individuals with medium to high salaries who actively contribute to the island’s economy. If even a single major iGaming company were to carry out mass layoffs or relocate, it could represent a significant challenge for Malta.
Unfortunately, the island is heavily affected by greed, arrogance rooted in widespread ignorance, a lack of know-how, and short-sighted political decision-making. This combination is likely to lead to unfavorable consequences.