Faber Lotto plans to cut 120 jobs in Germany

Faber Lotto plans to cut 120 jobs in Bochum, Germany, the company said. The cuts comprise 71 positions at its call centre and 49 at its headquarters, according to the company. Staff were informed of the plans on the morning of 27 October, and some received dismissal letters at that point.

The dismissals affect more than a third of the company's 315 employees, the company said. The dismissal letters cite urgent operational requirements and provide for severance of 0.5 months' pay for each year of employment under section 1a(2) of the Kündigungsschutzgesetz, with individual amounts to be communicated separately. The letters were signed by managing director Kai Faber.

Faber said the cuts follow a decline in written business, higher advertising and shipping costs and changed gambling-law requirements for telephone sales, which it said weigh on the economics of some offers. The company said the growing digital lottery market opens new possibilities and that it is adjusting its organisation and operations to focus more on digital business. It said it is acting now while it can still determine its own development.

Company founder Norman Faber said the dismissals were painful and made him sad. A Faber spokesperson said the affected staff had been part of the company for years and had shaped it through their experience, commitment and closeness to customers.

Faber Lotto acts as a broker and markets state-licensed lotteries including Lotto 6aus49, Eurojackpot, the Nordwestdeutsche Klassenlotterie (NKL) and the Süddeutsche Klassenlotterie (SKL). The Faber group was founded in Bochum in the late 1970s by Norman Faber and includes the call centre Direct Call, which describes itself as the group's in-house call centre. Many call-centre staff are expected to lose their jobs at the end of the year around the holidays, according to the report.