Nearly 1,000 gaming table supervisors have expressed dissatisfaction with a mounting workload that is not being addressed with the help of smart tables, according to lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho.
The lawmaker said in a recently written inquiry that he had asked the government to intervene after the complainants approached him for help.
Each supervisor was required to manage six mass market tables during peak hours, with some of the smart tables experiencing malfunctions that required additional attention from staff.
Some of these casino workers also complained that they had been given a warning letter for failing to work efficiently in what they described as a “highly stressful” environment.
“Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the gaming companies have avoided layoffs but have transferred a large number of gaming table supervisors to other roles,” the lawmaker wrote, quoting words from the complaints.
“However, two years after the pandemic, the vacancies left by those who left have not been filled,” the lawmaker added.
The situation has been exacerbated by natural wastage, which has increased the workload.
Smart-tables act up
Gaming companies have replaced some of their traditional gaming tables with tech-enabled ones, which Citigroup’s analysis suggests account for at least 10 per cent of the city’s total.
According to the complainants, some of the equipment adopted was installed with a faulty system, which they said caused problems in “almost every game”.
They claimed that the task of checking the systems had now fallen to them from the managers, adding to their already heavy workload.
Health problems resulting from the increased workload were also cited as reasons for demanding better treatment in the workplace.
