Sands China Set to Hand Out Discretionary Allowance to 99% of Staff

After announcing a series of changes that would help it comply with Macau’s gaming regulation upgrades at the beginning of December, Las Vegas Sands’ Macau-located arm, Sands China Ltd, has prepared a discretionary allowance for 23,000 of its employees. All eligible full-time staff members will receive the payment on January 18 as a token of appreciation for their hard work and dedication shown in 2022.  

99% of Employees to Receive a Discretionary Allowance or a Sales Incentive 

Sands China has announced that the discretionary allowance will be the equivalent of one month’s salary and that it will reach over 23,000 of its eligible employees. Other workers may benefit from the sales incentive scheme of the company that renewed its brand licensing agreement for three more years, starting January 1, 2023. The fresh licensing agreement will expire on December 31, 2025, and it will cost the company $377 million divided into three installments representing $114 million in 2023, $125 million in 2024, and the rest of $138 million in 2025.

In total, 99% of all staff members will be rewarded for their “dedication and contributions in 2022.” The company has not made the total amount of the benefits public. For several years, staff members have benefitted from additional payments from Macau operators at calendar New Year or Chinese New Year. The incentives, however, were never tied to the actual economic performance of the respective gaming operators.

Ongoing Support for Macau

Sands China’s president and executive director Dr. Wilfred Wong Ying Wai spoke about the way the company has proved its ongoing support for the popular gambling destination “through good times and difficult times”. He also expressed their dedication to driving economic diversification while completing their corporate responsibility of giving back to the community.

In spite of the slight revenue rebound triggered by the VIP sector and the slow recovery of the gaming market after the lifting of the zero-Covid policy, Sands China reported a wider revenue loss during the third quarter of 2022 when compared to the April-June 2022 period. In December, the same Macau-based resort developer announced the restructuring of the share capital of subsidiary Venetian Macau Ltd. The decision was made in order to prepare the company for its fresh ten-year gaming license. According to Macau’s new gaming law, all gaming concessions need to have a minimum share capital of MOP$5 billion ($630 million). Their managing directors must also be permanent residents of the province and they must hold a minimum of 15% of the companies’ minimum share capital amount.