Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong told reporters yesterday that according to figures released on Wednesday, about 30,000 mainlanders and 6,000 Hongkongers arrived on that day, adding that due to the earlier decline in the number of non-resident workers (NRWs) and changes in the local economy, the food, accommodation and tourism sectors were now in need of manpower, and therefore, apart from training, the government will continue to do “a good job at training and job-matching” in areas such as hotels, restaurants and aviation, encouraging residents to participate in the job-matching offers.
Lei said he believed the success rate for them to land a job could reach 50 percent.
Lei made the remarks after yesterday’s Spring Festival reception at the Services Platform Complex for Commercial and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in Nam Van.
Lei underlined that the government’s labour policy is clear and that the employment of NRWs merely aims to supplement the acute shortage in the local labour market while always giving top priority to protecting local workers.
Lei reaffirmed that the government will strike a balance in cases where some jobs are given to NRWs because they cannot be filled by locals for the time being.
According to Lei, this month and next month a total of 1,900 training spots under the government’s Vocational Training Programme with Subsidy will be provided, of which 1,200 places will be under the Employment-Orientated Training Programme, while the remainder will be on-the-job training.
Lei noted that as of last month, about 18,900 people had participated in the Vocational Training Programme with Subsidy.
In view of Macau’s gaming sector recovery, Lei said that this year’s budget forecast of 130 billion patacas income from the gaming sector is based on the assessment and calculation of various aspects, adding that there was still a lot of work to be done this year and that “we [the government] cannot relax just by relying on the situation for a few days [the current increase in the number of visitor arrivals], but we must have an optimistic attitude and make preparations”.
Lei said that thanks to the increase in visitor arrivals he believed that not only the gaming sector, but all business sectors will be able to “share the dividends”, pointing out that at this stage, “everyone must do a good job in hospitality to make tourists feel at home.”
The steady growth in visitor arrivals will be of great help to gaming and all other sectors, Lei added.
When asked whether the government’s annual wealth-sharing handout would be brought forward to April as in previous years, Lei said “there was no hurry”, stressing that the budget had been reserved for the wealth-sharing handout, which would be announced when ready.
Last year, permanent residents received a 10,000-pataca handout from the government, while non-permanent residents got 6,000.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong talks to reporters after yesterday’s Spring Festival reception at the Services Platform Complex for Commercial and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in Nam Van.
– Photo: Yuki Lei
