Macau casino op SJM announces pay hike effective April

Mar 18, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Sociedade de Jogos de Macau SA (SJM) – the Macau-registered unit that holds the gaming rights for SJM Holdings Ltd – announced on Monday a pay rise of between “2.5 percent and 8.3 percent” to eligible employees, effective April 1.

The statement did not specify the number of eligible employees receiving the pay hike. GGRAsia approached the firm on this matter, but did not receive a reply by the time this story went online.

Eligible employees earning monthly salaries below MOP16,000 (US$2,000) would receive a pay increase of MOP600 per month, which was equivalent to an increase in the range of 3.7 percent to 8.3 percent, SJM stated in a press release. Employees earning MOP16,000 or more per month would receive an increase of 2.5 percent, the firm added.

SJM also stated that its new Cotai casino resort project, Grand Lisboa Palace, would create “over 8,000” jobs upon completion, though the property’s opening date was not mentioned in its latest release. SJM Holdings noted in a February 28 statement that construction work for the firm’s HKD36-billion Grand Lisboa Palace would be completed “in the first half of this year”, with operations beginning “as soon as possible thereafter”.

SJM announced the staff pay rise days after the local government approved a request to extend to June 2022 the gaming concessions of the company and MGM China Holdings Ltd, that had been due to end in 2020. SJM Holdings was the last of Macau’s six casino operators to publicly announce a pay hike for 2019.

MGM China Holdings Ltd announced earlier this month a salary increase for non-management employees, effective from March 18.

Sands China Ltd had in mid-January been the first Macau operator to make a public statement about a 2019 pay rise. In late January, Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd announced a 2019 salary increase for eligible non-management employees.

Wynn Macau Ltd announced in February a pay rise for its staff exclusive of senior management. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd also announced in the same month a salary increase for employees of either senior manager grade or below.

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