Number of Macau gaming workers reaches 69,300 between March and May

The number of employees was up by 2.2 per cent sequentially.

Macau.- According to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), the number of people employed in the city’s gaming sector rose to 69,300 between March and May. That’s up 2.2 per cent when compared to February to April (a rise of 1,500 workers). However, the figure was 1,900 lower than in the same period in 2022.

Macau’s general unemployment rate remained steady at 2.8 per cent, and unemployment rate among Macau residents at 3.6 per cent. These figures indicate that the job market in Macau is relatively stable.

Macau, with a labour force of 369,800 residents, relies on non-resident workers. Preliminary estimates from movement records indicate that around 88,300 people, residents and non-residents, worked in Macau but lived outside the territory during the analysed period. This brings the total labour force to 458,100, which is a decrease of 1,400 compared to the previous period.

The number of unemployed people remained at 10,500, consistent with the previous period. There has been a 0.7 percentage point increase in the proportion of new labour market entrants searching for their first job, accounting for 4.6 per cent of the total unemployed.

A study conducted by scholars from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Research Institute, Shandong University and the University of Macau recently suggested that Macau faces a complex test as it moves away from relying on gaming revenue from Chinese high-rollers. The paper, jointly compiled by Edmund Sheng Li, Zhang Anning, and Yin Yechang, highlights the need for Macau to address social issues that had been overlooked.

Under new concessions, the city’s six gaming operators have pledged to invest US$15.2bn in non-gaming projects over the next few years.