The findings of a survey conducted by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (MFTU) and released yesterday show that nearly 78 percent of 3,462 respondents said that their companies had suspended operations during the recent COVID-19 outbreak that started on June 18, and nearly 40 percent and around 37 percent of them said that they had been required to take half-paid leave and unpaid leave respectively.
The Macau Federation of Trade Unions is commonly known as Gung Luen in Cantonese
The union hosted a press conference yesterday at the MFTU headquarters on Rua da Ribeira do Patane to present the findings of the survey about the impact of the “618 COVID-19 pandemic” on residents’ employment.
“618” refers to the fact that the outbreak, which has meanwhile subsided, started on June 18.
The survey was carried out last month when members of the union collected 3,462 valid questionnaires from residents aged between 25 and 54, aiming to enable civil society and the government to know more about residents’ “real” situation.
The respondents aged 35 to 44 accounted for 36.56 percent of the total, while those aged 45 to 54 and 25 to 34 accounted for 27.82 and 19.77 percent respectively, the union said, with those working in the gambling and entertainment sectors, as well as other service sectors accounted for the majority, according to the findings.
The findings showed that among respondents who were told by their employers to take unpaid or half-paid leave last month, those working in the gambling sector said that their income declined “significantly”, while employees in the catering sector said that wage suspensions and under capacity operations were “still very serious”, adding that their sector’s salaries were “generally” lower compared to other sectors in Macau, resulting in heavy financial pressure on them.
The findings also showed that about 52.08 percent of the respondents said they thought that they would only be able to “barely” cover their basic living expenses, while their savings were only enough to get them through for about three to six months, with daily meals, rent or mortgage payments, charges for electricity, tap water and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) taking up most of their expenditure, apart from children’s education and financial support of their parents.
According to the findings, about 72 percent of employed respondents said that their income in June had dropped by between nearly 20 percent and 30 percent year on year.
The findings noted that 57 percent of the respondents said they believed that the main condition for improving the local employment situation was to resume “normal” cross-border travel conditions between the mainland and Macau by lifting the COVID-19-induced travel curbs as soon as possible.
Consequently, the union urged the government to put more resources into its e-consumption benefit scheme by giving another 8,000-pataca consumption subsidy to each resident. The union also urged the government to set up a mechanism to provide assistance to people whose jobs have been suspended by their companies, in order to strengthen the protection of labour rights and workers’ interests and ensure employees’ confidence. The union added that since the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the whole labour market has changed, so employees need a basic protection mechanism which is clear, reasonable and legal.
In order to “better” target employees and the self-employed in need of upgrading their skills, the union urged the government to continue to optimise its vocational training policy while increasing the flexibility of its “Subsidised Training Plan”.
Macau Federation of Trade Unions (MFTU) representatives present the findings of a survey about the “real” impact of the “618 COVID-19 outbreak” on residents’ employment during yesterday’s press conference at the MFTU headquarters on Rua da Ribeira do Patane. – Photo courtesy of TDM
