Many formerly employed by the Macau casino junket sector wish to return to the city’s gaming industry, though some have already taken lower-status jobs in other commercial fields, says local legislator Leong Sun Iok.
Mr Leong also leads Macao Gaming Industry Employees Home, affliated to the city’s largest labour organisation, the Macau Federation of Trade Unions. He made the comments to local media on Wednesday.
“Now the economy is reviving with more tourists coming, and the gaming operators are also recruiting. We wish that the gaming operators can help these people [former junket employees]…to return to the gaming industry,” said Mr Leong in a briefing session.
Macao Gaming Industry Employees Home says it provides what it terms ‘social services’ on behalf of local people linked to the gaming sector, including a follow-up of a March-2022 survey it conducted among former junket sector employees, which yielded 309 respondents.
In the 2022 survey, 85.1 percent of respondents said they were unemployed at that time. Nearly half of those polled had worked for the now-disbanded junket brand Suncity Group.
The labour group’s follow-up showed “many” had already found a new job, but mostly outside gaming, in roles such as retail sales or catering services. Some were either driving taxis or delivering food.
A number of junket brands ceased activities in Macau casinos in December 2021, according to statements at the time by gaming firms. The sector saw the highly-publicised detention – in November 2021 and January last year respectively – of two of the biggest junket bosses. Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, of the Suncity Group brand, and Levo Chan Weng Lin, of the Tak Chun brand. They separately faced allegations of running illegal gambling operations. Mr Chau was this year jailed for 18 years in connection with some of the charges he faced. Mr Chan’s trial is ongoing.
Macau has since 2021 seen a major decline in junket business, junket-industry strength, and sector size, according to official statistics.
Macau’s Statistics and Census Service, when analysing labour in the gaming industry, does not separate general gaming workers from the junket people.
Based on data gathered at various points between December 2021 and December last year, there was an 8.4 percent decline in the tally employed in gaming and junket activities: from 73,800 people, to 67,600.
