Scientific Games CEO Barry Cottle has volunteered to take a 100% pay cut as the organization establishes a hardship relief fund for employees and their immediate families financially impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Additionally, the firm is implementing a range of cost-savings measures with the aim of offering stability for team members and to protect the company’s operations during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
Cottle stated: “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.
“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.”
Some of the actions being taken by the organization 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.
The company’s executive leadership team has also committed to a voluntary 50% salary reduction as part of these cost-saving measures, with Cottle volunteering a 100% reduction in pay.
The CEO continued: “We recognize 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.
“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.”
Scientific Games said it will continue to evaluate the situation and assess the duration of cost-savings measures based on the continuing impact of COVID-19.
