The Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) held a press conference yesterday to brief the media about Macau’s latest data on local residents’ employment and statistics concerning non-resident workers (NRWs), for the first quarter of this year.
The DSAL officials acknowledged that Macau is affected by a job market mismatch where young local jobseekers generally prefer office jobs with stable working hours, but employers in the city need workers for blue-collar positions and frontline operational positions requiring shift work.
The DSAL officials also urged local jobseekers to join the labour market first in order to obtain the necessary work experience before seeking a better or more suitable job.
The officials also pledged that the local government will implement measures to ensure that local jobseekers will always be prioritised for positions available in the local employment market as long as they are willing to take the positions and are capable of them.
The press conference was held at the bureau’s headquarters in Areia Preta district.
The officials noted that according to official data, local residents’ unemployment rate stood at 2.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, the lowest on record.
Macau’s general unemployment rate comprises local residents and non-resident workers.
Macau recorded 183,179 non-resident workers (NRWs) by the end of March this year, with the number of unskilled workers decreasing by 1,546 year-on-year.
The bureau announced a slew of labour market data during the press conference:
The total number of NRWs comprised 6,255 skilled workers, 148,133 unskilled workers, and 28,791 domestic helpers.
According to the bureau, skilled NRWs are being recruited primarily to supplement local talent, specifically targeting roles such as university professors, executives, and network systems engineers within the education, entertainment and gaming, hospitality, and catering sectors.
In contrast, unskilled NRWs fill roles for which there is little interest from local residents, such as cleaning, security, construction, catering, and room service, among others, the officials said.
The officials underlined that the total number of NRWs remained virtually unchanged compared to the same period last year. They also said that the bureau assisted nearly 2,800 residents in finding employment during the first quarter of this year.
The officials insisted that the employment sector has remained stable. In 2025, more than 11,500 job placements were made, and nearly 80 percent of those benefiting from the placements remained employed during the subsequent follow-up period.
Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) Director Chan Un Tong (second from left) speaks during yesterday’s press conference at the bureau’s headquarters in Areia Preta district, as DSAL Deputy Director Chan Tze Wai (second from right), Chan Ka In (right), acting chief of the bureau’s Employment Department, and Lam Sau Heong, who heads the bureau’s Non-resident Workers Employment Department, look on. – Photo: Tony Wong
