Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On pledged on Wednesday that the government will review the percentage of non-resident workers in relation to the total number of employees working in Macau.
Chui also vowed that the government will strive to ensure that at least 85 percent of medium- and high-ranking management members employed by the city’s six gaming operators will continue to be local residents.
Chui made the remarks when answering indirectly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Lam Lon Wai’s question during a Q&A plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle.
The session came a day after Chui delivered his 2018 Policy Address.
According to the Macau Post Daily, Chui reiterated that the government will keep its existing labour policy, which is that the employment of non-resident workers is just to fill in vacancies when employers cannot hire sufficient local workers.
Chui noted that the number of non-resident workers decreased from around 180,000 last year to some 176,000 in September this year, adding that the number of non-resident workers in the construction sector declined by 22 percent in this period.
Chui said that after “this round” of large gaming resort projects is completed and they come into operation, he will order the respective entities to review the percentage of non-resident workers in relation to the number of local workers employed by the city’s various sectors.
Chui did not elaborate on the meaning of “this round” of large gaming resort projects.
Chui also said that the government would improve its mechanism on the management of the employment of non-resident workers. He also said that the government would continue to encourage large local enterprises to put the employment of local residents first over the hiring of non-resident workers.
