Responding to media enquiries about whether the local gaming sector was still attractive to job seekers, Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff Association (MGESA) Secretary General Kelvin Choi Kam Fu said yesterday that the average salary offered by the city’s gaming operators was still higher than other types of work in the private sector and that job seekers were still keen to seek employment as casino dealers.
However, he was quick to add that there were currently not many external employment opportunities in the casinos’ gaming table departments, as staff were being transferred from within the respective casinos.
Choi told the reporters that as far as he knew, each gaming operator has so far this year laid off about 10 employees, involving different types of work, adding that with the return to post-COVID-19 normality by civil society, he had received complaints from a number of gaming companies’ employees about their workload, with their respective employer’s requirements causing them greater work pressure than before.
Macau’s six gaming concessionaires run a total of 30 casinos.
According to Choi, due to the promulgation of Macau’s amended gaming law, which took effect last June, the gaming sector’s service attitude towards overseas visitor markets, gaming table procedures and work content and other matters are different to those in the past, with many employees also worried whether their bosses want to reduce staff even further.
Therefore, Choi urged the gaming sector to provide more training and time for their employees to adapt to the increased workload and adjustment of company rules while, at the same time, the employees should also continue to upgrade themselves.
Choi made the remarks on the sidelines of a press conference about the “5th Macao Integrated Tourism and Leisure Enterprise Vocational Skills Competition” at the Macau Federation of Trade Unions’ (MFTU) headquarters on Rua da Ribeira do Patane.
The federation is known as Gung Luen in Cantonese.
According to official statistics, the public sector and utilities pay the highest salaries and most generous fringe benefits in Macau, while in the private sector gaming companies, banks, the aviation industry and insurance companies pay the highest salaries.
Annual tourism & leisure industry vocational skills contest to start Thursday
Meanwhile, the two-day competition, co-organised by Macau’s six integrated resort (IR) operators and Gung Luen, will kick off at Studio City in Cotai on Thursday, the press conference noted.
The annual competition will focus on the content of gaming and entertainment, hotel-integrated services, and food, according to the press conference.
Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff Association (MGESA) Secretary General Kelvin Choi Kam Fu talks to reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s press conference about the upcoming “5th Macao Integrated Tourism and Leisure Enterprise Vocational Skills Competition” at the Macau Federation of Trade Unions’ (MFTU) headquarters on Rua da Ribeira do Patane. – Photo: MPDG
