CE to young unemployed: ‘try everything’

Confronted with questions from lawmakers about the unemployment rate of Macau youth, the Chief Executive (CE), Ho Iat Seng, urged the younger generation to “try [for] any of the job offers available in the market instead of staying home waiting for the ideal job.”

Noting that there are currently some 7,000 job vacancies posted on Macao One Account, Ho said, “Maybe it is not hard to find a job but there are some difficulties [in finding] the ideal job. The ‘Ideal’ is the important part here,” he said, adding that filling those 7,000 job vacancies would lower the unemployment rate about 1%.

“Maybe these jobs are not ideal but if they [the young unemployed] don’t take the first step and try something instead of staying home this won’t favor their development. They need to take the first step and engage [with] the jobs [currently] available,” the CE remarked.

Responding to lawmaker Che Sai Wang about the drop in the unemployment rate being achieved through precarious employment in part-time jobs offered by the gaming concessionaires, the CE added that such cases “should not be generalized and should be just happening randomly.” He said the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau can monitor this issue if it is really occurring.

Che claimed a significant portion of the recent drop in the unemployment rate is “not real” or at least not accurate.

Che said the names of those who had found jobs were removed from the list though they had only found part-time jobs that provided only a low income and no security. Che added the gaming concessionaires used the “volume” of locals employed to get quotas to hire non-resident workers from abroad.

The CE said he would forward the matter to Secretary Lei Wai Nong for further investigation, calling on the lawmakers to provide concrete information on the matter.