Government-appointed Central District Social Services Consultative Council Deputy Convener Luo Ping quoted a Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) official as saying yesterday that as of this month, the bureau had received more than 400 applications from bosses for the government’s “temporary subsidy scheme to encourage employers to hire unemployed local residents during the COVID-19 pandemic”, involving about 870 employees.
The application period for the temporary subsidy scheme has been extended from September 30 to March 31 next year, Luo pointed out, adding that employers will receive a lump-sum subsidy of 19,968 patacas for each additional unemployed local resident they hire.
Luo made the remarks during a press briefing after the government-appointed committee’s closed-door meeting with DSAL officials at the Patane Activity Centre yesterday.
Fellow committee member Tai Ka Peng underlined that in order to tackle the problem of unemployment, the bureau has launched a variety of job matching services.
Tai quoted a DSAL official as saying that in the first eight months of this year, 4,342 applicants for regular employment support services attended job interviews, of whom 1,148 passed the interviews, involving the construction, catering, security and cleaning, transport, and retail sectors.
The DSAL officials also revealed during yesterday’s meeting that 38 matching sessions for specialist employment in various sectors were held between January and August, of which 1,343 applicants attended interviews and 728 of them passed them.
Concerning job matching sessions for employment in the leisure sector, the bureau has cooperated with Macau’s six gaming operators – SJM, Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG), Sands, Melco International Development, Wynn and MGM – in organising at least six matching sessions for interviews each month, Tai said, noting that 39 matching sessions were held in the first eight months, attended by over 4,000 interviewees, 453 of whom passed the interviews.
Tai also noted that the bureau has advertised job vacancies on the government’s Macao One Account since January, with 7,190 job seekers having been interviewed, with 537 having passed their interview via the platform. However, she said, in terms of large-scale job fairs jointly held by the bureau and the private sector in April, the matching rate was “not very ideal”, as only 639 out of 4,222 people had successful interviews.
According to the bureau, Tai said, in addition to job-seekers refusing the employment opportunities offered to them, 52 percent failed in their interviews because of their lack of skills and knowledge, such as insufficient language proficiency.
Tai quoted the DSAL officials as saying that the bureau will launch more language proficiency training for employees in the future. He did not elaborate on the languages concerned.
Luo Ping, deputy convener of the government-appointed Central District Social Services Consultative Committee (centre) and committee members Tak Ka Peng (right) and Pui Seng In look on during yesterday’s press briefing after the council’s closed-door meeting with Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) officials at the Patane Activity Centre. – Photo: Yuki Lei
