Sands China President Dr Wilfred Wong Ying Wai told media on Tuesday that the company will always have a need for foreign workers, despite having already dismissed more than 3,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
His comments come after Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, said during a Legislative Assembly meeting on Monday that the abolition of a quota on foreign workers would not solve employment issues for concessionaires. Recent figures released by the Macau government showed a 32% decrease in the number of foreign workers employed by concessionaires, with the total number of foreign workers Macau-wide sitting at 166,611 as at the end of April.
Wong said Tuesday that the Macau government has been monitoring the quota of foreign employment since the COVID-19 pandemic began and Sands China has cooperated accordingly by releasing a large number. However, he insisted some demand remained.
“We agree with the government’s approach because the current employment environment is poor, but there are some jobs that local residents are not interested in,” he said.
The Macau government has recently introduced a measure to provide companies a subsidy of MOP$19,968 for the hiring of unemployed residents. Wong said Sands China will continue to prioritize the hiring of local residents but stressed that this still depends on overall manpower demand, regardless of whether this attracts government subsidies or not.
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