Employment | Fresh graduates facing tougher time in finding jobs

New graduates are now facing an even tougher time in seeking employment compared to last year, despite the positive projection for the city’s current economy and the large number of positions available at university job fairs.
The latest official statistics show that the unemployment rate of local residents stood at 3.9% for the period December 2020 to February 2021, a rise of 0.2% points from the previous period of November 2020 to January 2021.
Meanwhile, university career fairs show that there are over 1,000 job and internship vacancies from different companies. It was estimated that 9,000 local university students graduated last year, of which 51% graduated from Macau universities, while the remainder were enrolled in schools in other regions or countries.
Managing director of TalentGroup Asia, Alan Chan, told the Times, “We are seeing new graduates facing even tougher time in finding jobs compared to last year.”
“I think the sentiment is that the economy will improve starting this summer but not to the extent like it was 2018 all over again,” he added.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the Macau SAR’s economy is expected to record a staggering growth of 61.2% year-on-year in 2021, after last year’s economy fell 56.3% due to the pandemic outbreak.
For now, recruitment agencies are eyeing the pre-opening phase of The Grand Lisboa Palace and Lisboeta, as the two are now starting to ramp up their recruitment campaign, which will help with the labor market.
However, the enterprises, according to Chan, are currently focusing on hiring experienced employees.
“We are expecting them to start [entry-]level positions hiring as they get closer to the openings,” he said.
Last year, the Macau Human Resources Association said it believes that university students set to graduate will have a lower starting monthly salary than those in previous years given local companies’ cautiousness with recruitment, as many corporations are considering the effect of the pandemic on their operations.
The association’s data shows that university graduates’ starting salaries were between 15,000 and 16,000 patacas in 2019. However, the group estimated that first-time job seekers in 2020 may be offered monthly salaries of 10,000 patacas or even less.
Chan voiced similar sentiments. “We see some new graduates willing to accept a salary of around 10,000 to 11,000 patacas just to get into large company. The absolute minimum was 12,000 patacas a few years back.”
Despite fresh graduates willing to accept lower salaries this year, the recruitment company said that there are still a large portion of graduates from last year who are being employed on a part-time basis.
“Established companies are looking into switching to more part-
time hiring because it will provide flexible for their business needs and they only pay as business spikes. Aside from the cost factor, it is also easier to find part time workers in this economy compared to before Covid-19,” said Chan.