Layoffs in iGaming: who gets cut first and what to do in advance

In gambling there is no news like “the industry laid off 15 thousand people.” But almost everyone who worked here for three or four years has a story about closure: they came on Monday, and the brand was no longer there. It is this form of dismissal - not a market crisis, but a targeted collapse of a specific project - that is the main one in the industry, and it takes people by surprise, because until the last day the company's jobs are open, and the manager at one-to-one says that everything is stable.

Why projects are closed when the market is growing

The reasons are repeated year after year, and not one of them is that you did a bad job.

• The market has gone under regulation. The country introduces licensing, tax rates and a ban on bonuses - and the geo, which gave half the turnover, ceases to pay off in a quarter. The team assembled for this market closes along with it.
• The operator lost the license or did not renew it. Sometimes this is a fine from the regulator, sometimes it is a decision not to undergo an expensive audit. The result is the same: the brand leaves the storefront.
• Merger or purchase. After the M&A, the merged company has two support departments, two CRM departments and two compliance departments. One of them is extra, and usually it is the one that came with the purchase.
• The investor shut down the brand. The holding launches five projects a year, three of them do not reach payback within 12–18 months and are quietly extinguished. This is not an emergency situation, but a planned portfolio mechanics.
• The provider or payment system has fallen off. The loss of a key payment channel in a geo kills conversion, and the project becomes unprofitable faster than they can find a replacement.

Who gets cut first and who holds on?

The logic of cuts in iGaming is almost always the same: first, what is tied to a specific brand or market goes away, then what is duplicated, and last of all, what the operator cannot work without even in curtailment mode. Compliance and payments are not reduced as long as the company has at least one living player with an unpaid withdrawal: the license is obligatory.

Hence the practical conclusion for those who choose the next place: a role tied to one market and one brand pays no worse, but lives shorter. If you manage three geos or work on a platform that serves several holding brands, your horizon is noticeably longer. Full ranges by level and region - in directory of professions, you can also see what functions each role has and how portable they are between operators.

Signs two to three months before the announcement

A closure is almost never sudden for a company; it is only sudden for an employee who didn't pay attention to the signals. They do not work alone: ​​one item from the list means nothing, three at the same time mean that the decision has already been made at the top.

1. Hiring frozen without explanation. There are open positions, but no offers are coming out, and the recruiter suddenly “left for another project.” The earliest and most reliable signal.
2. C-level change per quarter. The CEO, CFO or Head of Operations left - almost always there is a shareholder decision behind this, which will be the last thing they tell you about.
3. Delays in the variable part when salaries are paid on time. Bonuses and commissions are cut before salaries, because they are not visible in the reporting as salary arrears.
4. A major game provider or payment channel has left. Providers remove content when they feel at risk of non-payment. They see the numbers before you do.
5. Conferences, relocations and training were cancelled. These budgets are the first to be cut, and usually without an official letter - they simply stop coordinating them.
6. Audit of expenses by department “for optimization”. At this stage, the list is already being compiled.

What is required by law: Malta, Cyprus, Poland

These are guidelines, not legal advice: most office roles in the industry have a contract that is better than the legal minimum, and it is the contract that determines the terms of your specific dismissal. But knowing the lower limit is useful - it determines where the conversation begins.

Malta

The law does not provide for a separate severance pay for layoffs. There is a paid notice period that increases with length of service - from one week for short-term employees to three months or more for those who have worked for over ten years. The principle of “last in, first out” applies within one job category, and during the year, when hiring for the same role is resumed, the redundant has priority. Malta is the jurisdiction where the industry is most densely concentrated, so in practice a place is found here faster; details about the market - in the article about working in Malta.

Cyprus

There is a state Fund for excess personnel: an employee with at least two years of continuous work experience receives a payment from the fund, and not from the employer’s pocket. The size is calculated by years of experience and is limited by a ceiling; there is a separate notice period, which also increases with experience. An important detail for relocants: the payment is tied to official registration and contributions, so the “part of the salary in an envelope” here hits you directly.

Poland

The most formalized option of the three. The notice period under the labor code is from two weeks to three months, depending on the length of service with a particular employer. If the company has more than 20 employees and there is a group dismissal, severance pay is due: one salary for less than two years of experience, two for two to eight years of experience, three for more than eight years of experience, with a legal ceiling. Plus the procedure for notifying the trade union and the employment service, which gives additional time.

Separately check what exactly you are registered for. A contract through an agency or a B2B scheme with your own individual entrepreneur looks more profitable in terms of taxes, but there are no notice periods or benefits by default - termination takes as many days as it is written in the contract, sometimes zero. This is one of the reasons to carefully read the offer before signing, as we wrote about in the analysis licensed and gray operators.

What to do in advance while everything is calm

• Cushion in spending currency. Six months is a working guideline for the industry, and you need to keep them in the currency in which you pay rent. Receiving in USDT and paying in Euros is fine until the day the income stops in a volatile market.
• Check the visa and employer connection. When relocating, dismissal strikes twice. Find out in advance how many days are given to find a new employer and who reissues the permit - this is a figure that you need to know before, not after.
• Keep your contacts outside of the same company. The industry is small, and almost all offers here come through people. Two or three acquaintances in other operators close the question faster than any response.
• A live profile instead of a resume every three years. It is enough to keep the latest figures on projects up to date - conversion, portfolio size, base volume, area of responsibility. Open jobs It's useful to review once a month, even without intending to leave, so you can see how the market and your salary range are changing.
• Build a digital portfolio now. After leaving, access to dashboards disappears on the same day, and during the interview they ask for specifics. Once a quarter, write down your results in an anonymized form.

If this has already happened: first two weeks

The procedure is simple, but it is the order that matters. First, the paperwork: get in your hands a written reason for dismissal, a calculation of unused vacation and the deadline for the last payment. Do not sign the agreement of the parties on the day of the conversation - ask for a day and read what exactly you are signing; the status “reduction” and “by agreement” give different rights.

Next are the deadlines for the documents if you are relocated: how many days do you have to change employers, is a certificate from the company needed, who is submitting the application. These issues are resolved in the first week, while HR is still ready to help. Then the market: a short message to former colleagues and acquaintances in other operators works better than mass mailing of responses, and a public list of companies with open positions on employers page helps ensure you don't miss out on those hiring right now.

And don’t settle for the first number because you’re in a hurry—even after a layoff. The arguments for talking about the salary range remain the same as before: they are collected in the material how to negotiate an offer. You need a pillow at six months just enough to allow yourself this conversation.

Read also

Industry from the insideLicensed operator or gray: where they pay more and what the employee risksCareerHow not to get scammed by a gambling employer: 9 red flagsMoneyHow iGaming pays salaries: crypto, sole proprietorship, invoices