Macau gaming sees workforce growth, still below pre-Covid

Oct 30, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau’s gaming industry welcomed 2,500 new workers in the three months leading up to September 30, according to data released on Friday by the city’s Statistics and Census Service. This marked the second consecutive quarter of growth.

The data revealed that the number of individuals employed in the gaming and junket sector reached 71,000 during the July to September period. This represented a 3.6 percent increase compared to the 68,500 workers in the second quarter.

The total number of employees in Macau’s gaming and junket industry still remains considerably lower than the record figure of 87,500 workers officially reported in early 2020, just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic-induced decline in business forced the city’s casino operators to lay off thousands of workers. Over an 18-month period from April 2020 to September last year, the industry’s workforce declined by more than 21,000 employees, to around 66,400.

As Covid-related travel restrictions to and from Macau were lifted, the city’s casino industry began rehiring on a significant scale. In the six months leading up to September 30, there was a net increase of approximately 4,600 people working in the gaming and junket sector in Macau, showed data from the statistics bureau.

Investment analysts covering the city’s casino sector have mentioned that management at several casino operators plan to limit new hires post Covid-19, aiming to keep their overall headcounts below pre-pandemic levels. During the pandemic, operators were able to run their respective resorts with fewer on-site employees, and they are now seeking to make some of those cost-saving and margin-enhancing measures permanent.

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