Full time staff in Macau gaming down 3pct in 4Q, wages up

Mar 08, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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The number of full-time workers in the Macau gaming sector went down by 3.1 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021, while average earnings – excluding bonuses – went up 1.1 percent year-on-year.

That is according to the “Survey on manpower needs and wages” for the industry, published on Monday by the city’s Statistics and Census Service.

The latest tally was 54,839, compared to 56,613 in the fourth quarter of 2020. The figure of full-time workers in the Macau gaming sector in the final quarter of 2021 was the lowest since the end of 2012, according to official data.

The statistics service said the “demand for manpower in the gaming sector remained relatively low” in the latest reporting period.

In the fourth quarter last year, the number of new recruits and employees leaving employment totalled 128 and 521 respectively.

During 2021, several Macau operators, including Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, had respectively reported introducing voluntary exit schemes for staff interested in pursuing new careers elsewhere. It is not clear whether any of those schemes specifically affected industry employment in the fourth quarter.

In January, Galaxy Entertainment told GGRAsia it had “relaunched” a voluntary exit scheme for employees in gaming roles.

According to the latest staff and wages survey for the sector, the average monthly wage of full-timers was MOP23,700 (US$2,943), versus MOP23,440 in the three months to December 31, 2020.

The quarterly survey does not include people working either for VIP gambling junket promoters or for junket associates.

According to recent statements by Macau gaming operators, the industry’s cooperation with Macau-licensed gaming promoters or junkets was largely paused during the fourth quarter. Macau’s Labour Affairs Bureau, also known as DSAL, has reported a segment of people formerly employed in the junket sector, as having registered with the bureau while seeking alternative employment.

In the final three months of 2021, the number of table games dealers in the Macau market went down 3.0 percent year-on-year, to 24,406, down by 758. Their average earnings rose 1.1 percent year-on-year, to MOP20,020.

There were only 58 vacancies in the gaming sector in the fourth quarter, an increase of 32 year-on-year.

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