Faced with the disastrous impact of the coronavirus crisis the Société des Bains de Mer is pressing ahead with the process of cutting the size of its workforce.

Monaco’s casino operator and dominant hotelier has invited older employees to take early redundancy. The offer was taken up by more employees than expected, but not all of them can leave as there are many roles that would need to be filled by taking on more staff, which is not the point of the exercise.

However, while SBM had originally expected that 161 employees would be made redundant, that figure will be much fewer, according to Jean-Luc Biamonti, SBM’s CEO.

He said that it is very important for SBM to be ready for the economic rebound when it comes and the 4,000 employees who remain in place.

Cutting the size of the workforce will be costly in the short term, about 25 million euros, but the company is looking for long-term savings in order to ensure its future success, Mr Biamonti said. The need to restructure is “fundamental” to SBM’s future, he stressed.

FILE PHOTO: Jean-Luc Biamonti Jack Brodie