Duty free and luxury brand retailer DFS Group is offering unpaid leave to its Macao employees this summer in an effort to cut costs, Asia Gaming Brief reports, citing a local media source. It said the plan was “the result of careful consideration” as sales remain sluggish.
The Hong Kong-headquartered company, which operates T Galleria stores in most of Macao’s integrated resorts, is reportedly promoting the leave scheme as a way to avoid layoffs and protect employee welfare.
While DFS has reiterated that no one will be forced to take unpaid leave, employees have reportedly been strongly encouraged to take at least six days off – without pay – during July and August.
[See more: Restaurant and retail sales continue their downward trend]
According to Asia Gaming Brief, the company’s revenue was down by almost 40 percent compared to last year. Frontline employee salaries have also reportedly dropped significantly.
Figures from Macao’s Statistics and Census Service show the value of retail sales in department stores was down 14.5 percent, year-on-year, in the first quarter 2024. Leather goods, and the category of watches and jewellery, were down a respective 17.9 and 18.7 percent. Together, these categories made up about 60 percent of all first quarter retail sales in the SAR.
Despite economic headwinds tightening the purse strings of mainland Chinese visitors to Macao, DFS has announced plans to open another outlet in the M8 shopping mall near Senado Square, in Macao’s historic centre.
