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.
"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.