Scientific Games has established a Hardship Relief Fund for employees and their immediate families financially impacted by the coronavirus crisis, while the company’s CEO Barry Cottle has volunteered a 100 percent reduction in pay.
Scientific Games is taking a range of essential actions to respond to the global COVID-19 crisis.
“Like many others, our industry is facing unprecedented challenges from the widespread impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are working around the clock to take care of our employees, customers, shareholders and other key stakeholders in these difficult times, while providing uninterrupted products and services to those customers who continue to operate,” said Scientific Games CEO Barry Cottle. “Thankfully, we came into this year with a very strong liquidity position, including substantial capacity under our revolver, and also refinanced our debt, extended our major maturities and lowered our interest expense. We have a diverse portfolio of assets, product and services that uniquely position us to weather this crisis.
“We are taking a variety of actions to help ensure that we meet the demands of this outbreak and are ready when the industry begins to recover. I am confident that the measures we are taking now will prepare us to come out of the crisis even stronger than before. And, I have never been prouder to lead a team where everyone is stepping up to help each other, our partners and our company,” he affirmed.
Scientific Games is instituting a number of cost-savings measures to ensure stability for team members and protect the company’s operations. Some of these measures include workforce hour and pay reductions to preserve as many jobs as possible and furloughs for those support roles that have seen a decrease in industry work. During this challenging time, the executive leadership team has committed to a voluntary 50 percent salary reduction while Cottle has volunteered a 100 percent reduction in pay. The company said that its leadership will continue to evaluate this rapidly- evolving situation and assess the duration of cost-savings measures based on the continuing impact of COVID-19.
“We recognise that the temporary furloughs that are made necessary by the impact of COVID-19 on our company create substantial hardship for the furloughed employees and their families,” Cottle continued.
“We are establishing a Hardship Relief Fund to provide short-term assistance to those employees and their immediate families who incur unexpected and onerous personal, family, or living expenses as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.”
