The vast majority of managerial staff at Macao casinos are local residents, according to secretary for economy and finance Lei Wai Nong, whose remarks to the legislature were reported by TDM. He said that 90.3 percent of middle and senior management positions at the casinos were held by locals as of June.
Lei noted that the percentage exceeded a minimum 85 percent threshold imposed by the government and maintained that the high rate was thanks to government efforts to promote local employment in the gaming sector.
The Labour Affairs Bureau and the SAR’s casino operators jointly offer training sessions for existing casino employees in areas ranging from culinary apprenticeships to front desk jobs, helping them to climb the career ladder.
[See more: Unemployment in the second quarter has returned to pre-pandemic levels]
According to Lei, 21 different training sessions have taken place since the start of 2023, resulting in 379 candidates entering new roles. He also commended the concessionaires’ efforts to include people with disabilities in their workplaces.
Official employment statistics show that the gaming industry employed 70,300 people during the second quarter of this year. That’s 18.7 percent of Macao’s workforce, making the sector the SAR’s largest source of jobs.
The median monthly earnings in the industry for the quarter were 21,000 patacas – the second highest after the financial sector, where people earned 22,000 patacas on average.
