Redundancies have been keenly felt in the iGaming hub of Gibraltar
“ I’ ve been working in gaming recruitment for over 10 years and it’ s just continuously growing – it never slows down,” she says.“ That means there’ s always a need for these people with this experience, whether it’ s for an established company or a startup. There’ s always someone that’ s going to need the skillset.”
Even amid trickier market conditions, TalentBet’ s Lam says she rarely sees candidates on the market for more than a month or so. Depending on the role, a suitable job can be found in a matter of weeks: junior roles such as customer service may take a matter of days to place, while senior roles could take much longer.
Innes agrees that the situation is far less dramatic for gaming employees than people might believe.
“ If you look purely at LinkedIn and people posting and saying how difficult it is to get roles, you may falsely feel that the industry is not as vibrant or as buoyant as it is,” she says.“ But I do think there are roles there. There will always be positions available for anyone with strong industry experience.”
Having said that, there are notable differences between the two jurisdictions: while BettingJobs has seen an uptick in placements in Malta this year compared to 2024, there were zero placements in Gibraltar in the first quarter.
Innes attributes this to the wealth of highly regulated, tier-one operators on the island, many of whom are struggling in the wake of Brexit.
“ We talk about Malta and Gibraltar where there have been redundancies,” she says.“ But I think it may be more drastically felt by individuals in Gibraltar.”
A NEW WORLD OF WORK
Being made redundant can be a frightening situation for employees, although many also take it as an opportunity to take stock and consider their next step.
This might involve taking courses to refresh or update skills, or doing some soul-searching about what they truly want from a role and where they want to live. In 2025, Lam says, many iGaming candidates who have been laid off are keen to find remote-working options.
Many companies have caught up to this burgeoning trend, with the vast majority of TalentBet’ s 80-plus clients offering either remote or hybrid working. According to Lam, just two or three have held on to a fully office-based work environment, while the rest largely split the week between home and the office.
As some firms start to transition back to office-based roles, however, the demand for remote work is becoming one of the major hurdles to placing candidates quickly.
“ We’ re not seeing a lot of desperate redundant people coming through the doors,” Lam says.“ We’ re seeing people that have been made redundant but are being fussier about the next step for them, since they finally have the opportunity for a change.”
For firms insisting that employees come to the office, it can be much harder to match the ideal candidate.
“ We’ re very honest with them and say,‘ We can search for this, but you’ re going to miss out on really good people,’” Lam adds.“ There may be someone who’ s fantastic for the role but who really wants flexibility.”
Nevertheless, Innes says the employees on BettingJob’ s books tend to be pragmatic and realistic when assessing the market: they realise they may not get the high salaries or perks they’ d been used to before but are open to looking at offers.
EMBRACING CHANGE
For individuals looking for work after a layoff, Innes’ advice is clear: be creative and flexible, and recognise where skills can be transferred to other roles. Employees should also make sure their CV truly packs a punch, she says, and not be afraid of seeking expert advice if they need it.
Regardless of how long it may take, however, the key is not to lose faith.
“ The industry is so dynamic and entrepreneurial and vibrant, and it does offer fantastic career opportunities to individuals,” Innes explains.“ Yes, there have been redundancies, but there is also the emergence of new technologies, of new iGaming hubs. And if you’ re willing to embrace that, then the gaming industry is going to embrace you back, right?”
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