The Labour Affairs Bureau has met with workers’ representatives, who say reforms are needed now that Macao is on the road to economic recovery.
Labour Affairs Bureau
Predictably, the labour sector is in favour but a leading business figure warns that the raise will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Despite a crippling labour shortage, the migrant worker population has grown by less than 10,000 since Macao’s emergence from the pandemic in January.
The gaming concessionaire has set up a cross-training scheme to help personnel transition into roles in areas such as marketing and F&B.
However, local small business owners are warning that it is becoming increasingly hard to recruit mainland Chinese workers.
The Labour Affairs Bureau says it carried out thousands of inspections in 2022 and imposed penalties in 91 cases for unsafe working conditions.
The number of nonresident workers hired in March nearly tripled February’s total but the city has a long way to go to replace those who left during the pandemic.
More than 21,000 students attended 950 vocational training courses last year, with additional emphasis placed on raising English standards and adjusting to changes in the construction industry.
New measure aims to improve site safety, while not infringing on local employment opportunities, and comes amid a decline in accidents from 42 in 2021 to 16 last year.