Fewer job vacancies in financial sector in Q1, English and Mandarin languages crucial

At the end of the first quarter (Q1) of this year, the number of job vacancies in the financial sector decreased significantly (-27.7%) year-on-year, a survey held by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has found.
The number of total vacancies available in the sector declined to 274, from which 229 were in the banking sector and 23 in the insurance sector.
According to the release from DSEC, more than 90% of the job vacancies available in the finance sector required knowledge of both Mandarin and English languages, whereas, in more than 97% of the cases, such jobs also required a tertiary education degree.
At the end of March this year, the total number of full-time employees engaging in financial sector activities was 8,196, earning a monthly income of 29,100 patacas on average (excluding bonuses).
DSEC noted that such a sum represented a decrease of 1.5% year-on-year.
Accounting for such a decrease in the average salary were the employees of the banking sector (6,985), the average earnings of whom fell by 2.7% to 29,630 patacas, while Other Financial Intermediation workers (248) saw their earnings go up by as much as 13.2% year-on-year to 27,780 patacas.
The insurance sector also presented an increase in the total number of employees (4.5% year-on-year) to a total of 668, while their average earnings edged up by 0.1% to 30,220 patacas.
Decreasing most significantly was the percentage of full-time employees in activities auxiliary to financial intermediation, a sector which recorded a 15.7% drop year-on-year to 295, while their average earnings rose by 8.2% to 15,180 patacas.
The survey covered the banking sector, other financial intermediation, insurance, and activities auxiliary to financial intermediation, including financial institutions supervised by the Monetary Authority of Macao, but excluding insurance agents and brokers not directly employed by insurance companies.