Aruze Gaming to Close Las Vegas Office, Lay Off 100 Employees
Aruze Gaming, the company responsible for producing casino electronic gaming machines, plans to close its Las Vegas headquarters in August, resulting in the loss of 100 jobs. The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation received a notice about the changes going into effect on August 18th. Unfortunately, there's not much more information available beyond that. A few months prior, in February, Aruze filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court for the State of Nevada. Despite the filing, the corporation insisted operations would continue normally.
Aruze, responsible for creating the Rock Paper Scissors Instant Win slots, counts some major players in the US market as clients. To name a few: BetMGM, Circa Las Vegas, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, who operates many Hard Rock properties around the stateside. Aruze is headquartered in Japan and, following the May 2021 bankruptcy announcement, ensured they'd keep going as usual.
The bankruptcy filing, however, indicated around $20 million owed to secured creditors.
An Unstable Time for Aruze
Kazuo Okada is Aruze's only shareholder. He was once an investor in Wynn Resorts.
In the year 2018, Aruze faced trouble over a patent infringement dispute. That same year, the firm locked horns with Wynn Resorts in a legal tussle. The situation ended with Wynn Resorts paying Aruze a whopping $2.4 billion, arising from a forced Wynn share sale.
Just this week, the Philippines court issued an arrest warrant for Okada due to his involvement in the seizure of the Okada Manila integrated resort last year.
The dispute between Japan's Universal Entertainment, Okada Manila's parent company, and a US SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) trying to take the location public is ongoing. Okada's business landscape has been unstable, but these issues don't directly affect Aruze's troubles.
Less than Desirable News for Nevada Employment
A hundred jobs lost may not be remarkable, but the news of Aruze's job cuts comes at a time when Nevada's employment picture is trying to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic. The state's unemployment rate as of the end of May was 5.4%, in accordance with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Not only does this make it the worst in the nation and Washington, DC, it's also above the national average.
The job losses in Clark County don't help. The county's unemployment rate was 5.6% at the end of May, numbers from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation show. With only Lyon and Nye Counties having higher jobless rates, this is undoubtedly a worrying update for Nevada's labor market.
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Source: www.casino.org
