Macau’s Statistics and Census Service has noted that the gaming force in Macau has remained fairly unchanged despite a decline in the number of people employed in the sector. The full-time employees in the gaming industry as of the second quarter of the year were down 2,176 to 53,592. The dealers numbered 24,093 down 550 year-over-year, the DSEC reported.

Macau’s Workforce Remains Stagnant in Q2 2022

The average salary in the industry has, however, also taken a hit with the average money made in the industry now down 1.8% or MOP$23,270 ($2,879). The salary numbers were relevant to June and did not include bonuses. The salaries of expatriate employees were lower still at MOP$21,510 ($2,661).

Interestingly, though, the gambling industry is almost fully booked with the second quarter only having 19 vacancies compared to 37 a year before. All of the vacancies required either previous working experience or senior education, along with mandatory knowledge of Mandarin. Nearly all of the jobs required knowledge of English as well. DSEC explained that the fewer vacancies available are reflective of the slowdown caused by the pandemic.

The job sector in Macau took a hit in the sweeping changes that the Special Administrative Region enacted, leading to the closure of dozens of junket operators, and laying off potentially thousands of employees who have been making a tidy dollar on the job.

The gambling industry has been slowly on its way to recovery, with Macau experimenting with allowing overseas customers to return but under fairly strict testing and quarantine mandates. In the meantime, other countries in the region, including Cambodia, have been struggling to make a return to normal operation in their gambling industry, partially because of the lack of qualified workers who have not returned due to poor treatment when the pandemic first started, and gambling companies laid them off en masse without any damages payments.