The number of full-time workers in the Macau gaming sector edged up 1.6 percent to 52,518 by the end of the second quarter this year, with average monthly earnings – excluding “irregular remuneration” – up by 8.2 percent year-on-year to MOP26,750 (US$3,334).
That is according to the “Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages” for the industry, published on Tuesday by the city’s Statistics and Census Service. Survey results are issued twice a year.
Of the 52,518 full-time workers employed as of the second quarter, nearly 44.7 percent – or 23,467 – were dealers. The number of dealers is 0.9 percent fewer than the same quarter last year, and also down by about 6.9 percent from the second quarter in 2019, according to the statistics bureau’s data.
Dealers’ monthly average earnings as of June-end was MOP21,660, about 6.5 percent higher than a year ago. That pay level represented a 3.9 percent increase compared to the same period in 2019.
Gaming staff employed as “directors and managers” saw the highest year-on-year increase in average earnings, compared to other types of worker.
As of June-end, for “directors and managers” employed in the industry, monthly earnings were MOP65,760 on average. That made them the highest earners amongst all types of industry position, and represented a 17.4-percent increase year-on-year.
There were 2,793 “directors and managers” in the industry during the second quarter, equal to about 5.3 percent of the overall full-time workforce. This management cohort was smaller by 10.7 percent compared to the same quarter in 2019, a time when just above 3,100 people were employed in such positions.
The quarterly survey does not include people working either for VIP gambling junket promoters, or junket associates.
There were 498 job vacancies in the gaming sector in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 385 compared with the prior-year quarter. The surge in the job vacancies was due to a rising number of inbound visitors, and a continuous recovery in the travel sector, the census service noted.
