The number of full-time employees working directly within Macau’s gaming sector, excluding those working for junkets or their associates, fell by 1,612 year-on-year in 4Q20 to 56,613.
And with COVID-19 continuing to make its presence felt, demand for new staff has also fallen to historic lows with the job vacancy rate down to “near zero” according to Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
Based on the results of a survey on Manpower Needs and Wages of the Gaming Sector in the fourth quarter, average earnings of gaming workers was also down by 4.9% year-on-year in 4Q20 to MOP$23,440, including a 6.1% decline in the earnings of casino dealers to MOP$19,800. The total number of dealers fell by 295 to 25,164.
Job vacancies plummeted through the year, from 443 in the final quarter of 2019 to just 26 vacancies as of 4Q20. Just 174 new gaming employees were hired throughout Q4, a decrease of 86.6% compared with the 1,294 hired in the final three months of 2019.
“These indicators reflected a substantial decline in the demand for manpower in the Gaming Sector,” DSEC said.
