The Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) says that it has helped 1,043 local construction workers get a job over the past 12 months.
A statement released by the bureau on Monday said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has been boosting the development of the construction sector by increasing its investment in infrastructure projects, with the aim of creating more job opportunities for local construction workers, because of which, the statement said, the bureau has been intensively working on its job matching service for the construction sector.
The statement underlined that with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of its job matching service for the construction sector, the Labour Affairs Bureau has been in close communication with the government’s public entities tasked with public works, namely the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) and the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI), and construction companies, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the progress of ongoing construction projects and the demand for different kinds of occupations in the sector.
Over the past 12 months, the statement said, the Labour Affairs Bureau contacted 4,923 job seekers for the construction sector, of which 2,481 said they would join job interviews. The statement said that 2,054 of them finally attended their interviews, of which 1,043 were employed.
According to the statement, the kinds of occupations for which the jobseekers have been employed include miscellaneous workers, those tasked with formwork, electricians, painters and cement workers, accounting for 71 percent of the total number of the jobseekers who have been successfully employed.
The statement said that the major reason that jobseekers failed in their interviews was that they could not pass a skill test or didn’t want to take such a test, accounting for 78 percent of the total number of the failed jobseekers. Other reasons for failing in an interview included being dissatisfied with the offered salary or with other employment conditions, the statement said.
The statement said that with the rapid development of Macau’s construction industry, companies in the sector have been “moving with times” by constantly introducing new construction methods with the aim of speeding up the construction processes, such as the use of prefabricated modules for construction projects. Consequently, the statement said, the Labour Affairs Bureau will provide occupational training courses for local construction workers to master the new kinds of construction technology.
This undated handout photo provided by the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) on Monday shows a DSAL inspector (centre, standing) monitoring an interview carried out by a construction company for a worker who is welding during a skill test.
