Labour Market News

[hkskyline]

Building workers strike pay jackpot in the other SAR
The rush to rebuild Macau is giving construction crews a welcome windfall after lean times, writes Neil Gough
3 June 2005
South China Morning Post

For hoteliers and casino operators, Macau has become a field of dreams where "if you build it, they will come".

Whether or not enough mainland gamblers will flow across the border to pack the dozen mega-casinos coming online over the next three years, there is one sure bet in Macau: they will build it.

In the first quarter, the number of new construction firms rushing into the sector tripled from a year earlier to 134. Construction projects consumed more than 115,000 tonnes of cement in the quarter, twice as much as last year.

To the joy of beleaguered Hong Kong construction workers, salaries in Macau's construction sector are skyrocketing. Scaffolders and crane operators saw real wages increase in the first quarter 66 and 41 per cent respectively.

The continuing building boom promises a windfall for them and Hong Kong construction firms, many of which just barely survived the worst five years the industry has seen in decades.

The vast majority of Macau's paltry population of 18,000 construction workers has already been engaged. Projects under way are likely to require a further 50,000 workers over the next three to five years, Macau officials estimate.

Fearing an influx of cheap labour, the government has set the minimum wage for imported construction workers at 450 patacas per day, slightly higher than the local 425-pataca average. According to Labour Affairs Bureau director Shuen Ka-hung, mainlanders would work for as little as 40 patacas a day. Without the government-imposed minimum wage for outsiders, Mr Shuen says, "everybody would use imported labour and nobody would hire local workers".

Higher-paid Hong Kong labourers bring knowledge and experience that is not available locally, but are still subject to restrictions. Big contractors are usually required to hire a percentage of local workers before receiving an import quota, which needs personal approval from Macau's financial secretary, Francis Tam.

The whole process takes about three months, though the government hopes to speed things up. "There's quite a long queue of applicants," Mr Shuen says. "We're working overtime every day."

He's not the only one in a hurry. Construction of the 23-storey Wynn Macau project, a $2 billion contract controlled by a joint venture between Hong Kong-based Leighton Asia and China State Construction Engineering, has reached 16 storeys and is adding one floor every five days.

In his office, Wynn Macau president Grant Bowie is asked if the noise outside was always so bad. "No," he says. "They've finished the piling, so this is pretty quiet."

Project director Mike Harvey adds: "We're moving quickly into decoration work and high-end services, and those are the areas where labour will have to be imported. Disneyland is finishing soon, so a lot of highly skilled workers could come straight across."

Macau has become a lifeline for underemployed Hong Kong construction workers.

"If there were enough projects in Hong Kong, there would be no need to leave," Choi Chun-wa of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees' General Union says. "Las Vegas was built bit by bit, but in Macau they're putting it up all at the same time."

There are drawbacks, however. Occasional on-the-job injury and even death are facts of life in the construction industry. As in Hong Kong, Macau labour law requires contractors to buy insurance for all workers, but standards are lower. In the event of death, a Hong Kong policy pays a minimum $1,764,000; in Macau it is only $400,000.

While contractors that import Hong Kong workers to Macau typically provide housing, rising rents in the enclave means they have to house more workers across the border in Zhuhai. Usually, a minibus provides transport to and from the site.

"They don't want workers losing their money in the casinos after work," Mr Choi says.

[SeeMacau]

The rush to cement new structures by hoteliers and casino operators has been making Macao "a city of dreams" for international construction labor forces.

MGM Mirage, a US-based hotel and casino giant, broke its first ground last week to build a 975-million-US-dollar casino resort in Macao, branded MGM Grand Macau.

Las Vegas Sands, another world gaming icon, launched the 240-million-US dollar Sands Macao in May 2004 and is expected to add a 345-million-US-dollar wing to the old body.

These are not the only illustration of the casino boom in the Macao Special Administrative Region, the only territory within China where casino gambling is legitimate.

Statistics recently issued by Macao's Statistics and Census Service showed that in the first quarter this year, the number of new construction firms flooding into the gaming sector tripled to 134 from a year ago.

Construction projects consumed over 115,000 tons of cement in the quarter, twice as much as in the same period of 2004.

Local labor forces are hardly well prepared for the building prosperity, as the majority of the region's 18,000 construction workers have already been engaged.

Projects under construction, however, are likely to require a further 50,000 workers over the next three to five years. The region, with only 460,000 permanent residents, thus needs international construction crews to aid its building boom, local economic analysts said.

And the city has already grown to a charming destination for outside labor forces. Salaries in the region's construction sector are sky-rocketing, as scaffolders and crane operators saw their wages increase year-on-year in the first quarter by 66 percent and 41 percent respectively, according to official figures.

To the workers in the neighboring Hong Kong for instance, where many construction businesses barely survived the worst past five years the industry has seen in decades, Macao's building prospects promise a windfall for them.

To Macao authorities, however, there is a balance-keeping game to play -- embracing the needed helping hands and protecting benefits of local labor forces.

Fearing an influx of cheap labor, the Macao government has set a minimum wage for imported construction workers at 450 patacas (56 US dollars) per day, slightly higher than the local average of 425 patacas (53 US dollars).

Local contractors, moreover, are requested to hire a certain percentage of local workers before being offered an import quota, which needs a personal nod from Francis Tam, Macao's financial secretary.

There are many things for the imported labor forces to be concerned about as well.

Occasional on-duty injury and death are part of the life in the construction industry.

Macao's labor law demands contractors to purchase insurance for all employees while the standards are lower compared with those in Hong Kong.

In the event of death, for instance, a Hong Kong policy pays a minimum of 1.764 million HK dollars (220,500 US dollars), while in Macao it is 400,000 HK dollars (50,000 US dollars). For world gaming tycoons, there is one sure bet in Macao -- build the casinos and gamblers will come; for outside construction workers, there is also one sure bet -- build the casinos and we will be needed. Like it or not.

[ggaaxx]

We know already Macau is busting at it’s seams. But two recent articles are bringing doom but not gloom. There are just too many jobs but not enough people for those jobs in Macau.

Macao’s booming casino industry is to need at least 50,000 croupiers in 2009, The Macao Post Daily quoted Joao Bosco Cheang Hong Lok, chairman of the Macao Gaming Industry Workers Association, as saying that a large number of residents are keen to become croupiers as the job does not require high level education yet offers “good benefits.” The number of the current croupiers stood at 20,000 or 7 percent of Macao’s labor force.

So this means that Macau needs to train another 30,000 new croupiers by 2009, or about 18% of the labour force!
And then we get this, “There is a structural nightmare awaiting Macau in three to five years unless something is done about the labour situation,” said Barry Brewster, director of human resources management firm Evans and Peck.

“We feel Macau is rapidly assuming the mantle of Las Vegas in every way, not just in gaming but also in the associated industries like entertainment,” said Jeb Rand, of Vegas-based Rand Productions, which stages ice skating shows around the world.

“That means that family entertainment and other diversions will begin coming here as they did in Vegas 20-30 years ago,” added Rand. “It’s a rapidly maturing market.”

But the casino boom has not been good for other parts of the city’s economy.

With a workforce of just 250,000 and most forecasters projecting that the casinos will create at least another 20,000-100,000 jobs over the next 10 years, competition for staff has created a cut-throat labour market.

“Staff retention is a huge problem in Macau,” said Brewster. “Poaching of even low-level personnel, like construction workers, is common and at the level of croupier and dealers, it’s brutal.”

Brewster cited the example of the latest mega-casino, the towering Grand Lisboa. When it opened last month, it was offering such high wages that it was able to attract some 160 dealers from a rival casino.

The knock-on effect is that infrastructure that also need staff, such as hospitals and schools, cannot compete with the casinos, which in some cases are offering triple the monthly salaries — around 2,000 dollars — of a teacher.

“There is an imbalance; people are leaving state jobs for the casinos because they pay more,” said Albano Martins, a Macau-based economist.

Led by gaming tycoon Stanley Ho, casino owners are calling for a relaxation of immigration laws to allow thousands of overseas workers into the city. Ho has said that at least 200,000 will be needed.

Indeed disaster is looming, as the government has to balance those demands against concerns of the local population fearful of an influx of foreigners. In a rare display of public anger, some 6,000 people joined a protest march against such a move late last year.

Source | Yahoo and Peoples Daily Online

[hkth]

It's not really suprising at all. For those guardates, working in a casino earns much more than other jobs (10000 MOP VS 4000-5000 MOP). Would they willing to do such low-paid jobs, instead of the high-paid casino jobs?

[ChauTauVillager]

I might want to volunteer. However I think I may end up losing HKD1m to myself !! (One mill to you, one to mee !!) oops

[Adams3]

I think Macau should strive towards 1 million people. That would be a population size which will put Macau on the map worldwide and make it influential. I'm sure there's plenty of Filippinos, Vietnamese or Chinese willing to come.

[superchan7]

Gladly, please accept my donation of 500,000 of Hong Kong's population.

[SeeMacau]

we have so many southeast asians here working in macau, especially the filippinos, just take a look around the streets in macau then you will find so many filipinos

one way to solve the job problems is to import some labours from overseas, otherwise we will just have too many jobs and not enough people,

[ggaaxx]

The is long overdue as labour shortages in Macau are pressing and the only way to solve it, is by allowing more imported labour!

The Executive Council had just completed discussions on a bill aimed at overhauling labour laws that have been in effect for the past 18 years.

The bill, to replace the existing Macao Labour Relations Law (Decree-Law No. 24/89/M), will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly for further study.

The bill is a result of lengthy discussions within the Standing Council on Social Concerted Action and taken into account the views of employers and labour association representatives.

The bill contained proposals to better protect both employers and employees. For example, maternity leave would go up from 35 to 56 days; workers who quit their job must give more notice than the present seven days.

The bill also clarified the rights and obligations for part-time workers, domestic workers and contracted workers, and stipulated compensations for overtime working, working on public and mandatory holidays, as well as allowances for midnight working and shift-taking.

Meanwhile, the Executive Council had received a Bill on regulating the employment of imported labour and would start to review it soon, spokesman for the Council, Mr Tong Chi Kin, said at a press conference today.

He said the Council had also completed discussing a By-Law that would transfer the Labour Affairs Bureau’s function on dealing with imported labour applications to an office to be established to enhance efficiency.

Source | Government Information Bureau

[ChauTauVillager]

From SCMP 28 April 2007

Labour Shortages Mounting In Macau
The Second Macau Investment Forum closed yesterday with investors expressing concern over the city's biggest problem - a dire labour shortage on one hand and tough opposition to importing labour on the other.
For companies hoping to cash in on the casino boom, an eight month wait to import workers, with no guarantee of the outcome, can be costly and exhausting, the two day forum at Wynn Macau heard.
"It's a lengthy process. And there's a level of uncertainly - you cannot know how long it is going to take," said Haslam Preeston, GM of Zung Fu Motors Macau, the exclusive dealer of Mercedes-Benz in the city. Zung Fu found it almost impossible to recruit locally the mechanics it needs to meet the city's surging demand for luxury cars.
The latest application by the company to bring in mainland staff took eight months to succeed.
"The process itself is not necessarly complex. The problem is that it takes too long," lawyer Carlos Simoes said. It is believed the city has a shortage of between 50,000 and 100,000 workers. Government economist Lao Pun-lap estimates the city's labour gap will grow to 350,000 in three years. Currently, Macau has a working population of more than 280,000 including 70,000 imported workers.
Meanwhile thousands of workers in low-paid jobs are angry they are not benefiting from the booming economy, and at least six interest groups have planned to stage a huge Labour Day protest against government labour policies and corruption.
The groups said they would for the first time demand the resignation of Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah.
More than 5000 protesters clashed with police on May 1 last year, leaving 27 injured....
"The local workers are not opposing labour imports," said Mr Lao. "They are most concerned about job security and labour rights."
Analyst have said they believe a new labour law will be passed this year.

[ggaaxx]

I guess everyone with little education background would go for the high paying jobs in casino. This creates the labor shortage for other industries that don't pay as high.

[MacauVillager28]

Results of the 3rd Quarter 2007 Manpower Needs and Wages Survey

The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the Manpower Needs and Wages Survey for the third quarter of 2007. The survey covered the Manufacturing; Hotels & restaurants; Financial intermediation and Electricity, gas & water supply sectors, but excluded own-account workers and insurance agents and brokers not directly employed by insurance companies. The survey results were extrapolated based on the data obtained from 576 statistical units successfully interviewed, given as follows:

At the end of the third quarter of 2007, the Manufacturing sector had 27,962 paid employees, down by 10.5% from a year ago. Among them, 18,604 were working in the manufacture of wearing apparel. In September 2007, the average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full time employees in this sector amounted to MOP 4,976, up by 7.1% over the same month of 2006. The average earnings of Sewing machine operators in the manufacture of wearing apparel was MOP 3,413.

The Hotels & restaurants sector logged 42,556 employees, with 27,072 working in hotels. Number of employees surged by 57.8% over the third quarter of 2006, which was driven by the growth of number of workers in hotel industry. The average earnings for full time employees in September 2007 rose by 36.6% to MOP 9,117. The average earnings for hotel Housekeeping employees was MOP 5,041.

The Financial intermediation sector had 5,126 paid employees, up by 7.9% compared with the third quarter of 2006, with 4,367 working in banks. The average earnings for full time employees in September 2007 went up by 12.3% to MOP 15,522 and that for Bank tellers was MOP 8,928.

The Electricity, gas & water supply sector had 1,059 paid employees in the third quarter of 2007, grew by 2.5% year-on-year. The average earnings for full time employees increased by 6.6% over September 2006 to MOP 20,776.

At the end of September 2007, the Hotels & Restaurants recorded 7,530 vacancies, up by 30.1% from a year earlier, while in Manufacturing sector vacancies were at 3,009, down by 46.1%. The Financial intermediation and the Electricity, gas & water supply sectors logged 240 and 29 vacant posts respectively.

In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 65.8% of the vacant posts in the Manufacturing sector required working experience. Meanwhile, 89.7% of the vacancies in Electricity, gas & water supply and 98.3% in Financial intermediation required senior secondary or higher education. Besides Cantonese, Mandarin (63.3%) and English (61.1%) were the more preferable language skills for the vacancies in the Hotels & restaurants sector

Other info... (from full statistical bureau report)
.. Hotel workers pay increased 28.8% over March 2007
.. Ave Hotel Director/manager level pay is MOP33.4k, with foreigners earning MOP43.8k and residents MOP25.6k
.. Ave Financial sector Director/manager pay is MOP33.7k, with foreigners earning MOP4.7k and residents MOP32.3k
.. Ave Finance Professional pay is MOP34.4k, with foreigners earning MOP29.6k and residents MOP34.9k

[macau-invest]

Average earnings for Macao's gaming employees rise 7.4% in June


www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-29 20:14:53 Print

MACAO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Results of an official survey released on Monday showed that average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees in Macao's gaming Industry rose by 7.4 percent year-on-year to 15,565 patacas (1,946 U.S. dollars) in June this year.

Average earnings for casino dealers grew by 0.3 percent in June over the same period of last year to 13,776 patacas (1,722 dollars), while that for employees in casino positions such as hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floor persons, betting service operators, etc. stood at 18,807 patacas, up by 8.9percent, according to the results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages of the Gaming Industry for the second quarter of 2008, conducted by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

Gaming industry is at the heart of the economy of Macao, the only place in China where gambling is legally allowed, since over 70 percent of the Special Administration Region government's tax income comes from gaming taxes and levies paid by the casinos, and a large part of the local population works directly or indirectly in the sector. The SAR government bans non-permanent residents from taking key positions in local casinos, such as dealer, preserving them for the less-educated locals.

At the end of the second quarter of this year, there were 45,621 paid employees engaged in the gaming industry, up by 1.3 percent year-on-year, the survey results showed.

Local gaming industry reported 764 vacant posts at the end of June, a decrease of 4,348 or 85.1 percent from a year earlier, the DSEC said.

[superchan7]

Per month? That's quite attractive.

[alice45]

Great news!!! This is very informative and helpful. There are main sources of information from which we determine the state of our labour market. In Macau has shortages of Labor Mounting. The Second Macau Investment is the city's biggest problem. There are many asians working in Macau.

[rahul_4218]

thats great news , anyway , we should import some more people for completing the jobs

[pearl river]

Bring the “human” back into human resources
18/06/2010 01:17:00 Leanda Lee

It is undeniable that Macau needs additional human resources which cannot be met by local residents alone. Prior to discussing the issue of quality in terms of what is distinctively dubbed ‘talents’ here in Macau, let us just go quickly over the numbers’ side for those of us who are not yet quite convinced that Macau might really require additional resources to fill the positions for the immediate needs as well as for future development.
The numbers state that we have 9,600 unemployed.
We also have approximately 10,100 vacancies in the system. Thus, should all the unemployed be a) willing and b) able we would have the jobs for those out of work. Our problem is that we have structural unemployment which occurs when there is a mismatch between the type of people unemployed and the job vacancies. Basically, this means that any local resident who is going to get a job in Macau, has a job. Interestingly, in December 2004 when Francis Tam pledged to “adequately resolve the problem of a human resources shortage” unemployment was at an absolute level of 13,090. Not much has changed to that core group of unemployed in those six years. However, over that time the labour force has increased by 85,000 (and they are not all locals by any means) and we have managed to reduce the number of unemployed to a fairly constant range of between 9,000 to 10,000.
We are now moving into another stage of economic growth and an even greater need for human resources.

There is absolutely no doubt that additional and qualified people are required beyond what we have in the pool of the resident unemployed.Just to remind us all what we have ahead of us: The Venetian’s parcels 5 and 6 need construction workers and then staff once completed, say 10,000 for construction and a similar number thereafter; Galaxy is starting recruitment of more than 7,000 positions for its Mega Resort; then we have the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and the Light Rail projects. There is absolutely no doubt that additional and qualified people are required beyond what we have in the pool of the resident unemployed.
This undeniable reality of the numbers has not translated into government policies or a community climate accepting of foreign labour. Quietly over the last three years community sentiment has metamorphosized “foreign labour” to be synonymous with “illegal labour” and its attending harms in the minds of many. However, this time, I sense the winds of change and the direction is coming from none other than the Mainland. The Xinhua News Agency recently ran an article detailing how China is adopting a more open policy in order to attract foreign ‘talents’ (that word again). This is to “help promote the economic and social development and global competitiveness of the nation”.
There is active encouragement towards immigration of personnel suited to the requirements of the nation. This is in order to change the nation from “labor-rich to talent-intensive”. Surely, in labourpoor Macau the incentive to act in a similar fashion is even greater for all levels of our labour force, from unskilled, through semi-skilled to top professional levels. Macau requires quality people and needs to attract those that will continue to contribute to the community and its development.
One way to encourage the right people is to ensure that not just economic contributions (measured in Macau usually via personal taxation returns or employment contracts) but other contributions are measured and given weight in the decision to allow initial and continued residence and permission to work. Proof such as connection with the community through family settlement, investment, prior educational attainment and potential future contribution of family members as well as the applicant and participation in community activity or volunteer work together with linguistic ability might be better indicators of valuable human resources. Encouraging people with these assets is more likely to build the harmonious labour relations stated to be part of the Macau Labour Affairs Bureau mission than accepting people based upon proof of lack of a criminal record and mere economic contribution. We need to build trust in our community (one of the stated values of the Labour Affairs Bureau); treating foreign human resources as whole people rather than simply economic assets at best and a parasitical burdens on Macau’s abundant resources at worst would go a long way towards building a strong and committed base of foreign and temporary resident labour.

[teteddy]

what a good news!thanks for sharing the news!