Group calls on gov’t to allow local domestic helper services

Local domestic helper services should be opened and allowed by the government, Au Ieong Kuong Kao, president of the Macau Overseas Worker Employment Agency Association, said in a suggestion to the government.
Although the demand for domestic helpers has been high in Macau, the strict border restrictions banning entry for foreign residents without a Macau ID have made employment of such helpers from Southeast Asian countries impossible.
Domestic helpers from these countries, particularly the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, have been popular among local employers.
Many of the workers have left Macau for various reasons. As such, Ao Ieong recommended in an interview with public broadcaster TDM that the government allow the operations of local domestic helper dispatch services. He said that companies permitted to operate the business would purchase insurance for their employees and train them prior to work. Services may cover post-natal and elderly daycare services.
He also suggested the government formalize mutual trade agreements with these countries to sweep away hurdles. Ao Ieong said that these agreements can facilitate entry for workers from these countries when the Covid-19 condition has stabilized on both sides, with necessary quarantine requirements. He believes it will help ease current pressures on the domestic worker market.
On the other hand, the main reasons non-resident workers from other parts of the world, particularly Southeast Asia, have left Macau are the border restrictions and their difficulty in finding a new job here.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak , the number of non-resident workers who work as domestic helpers has dropped from 31,000 to slightly more than 26,000. The number of Vietnamese domestic workers, for instance, has dropped by more than 1,000, which accounts to nearly half of the original total.
Many are pregnant or unemployed, and so they chose to return home. According to Ieong Chong Tak, president of The Overseas Vietnamese Association in Macau, many of these workers went home because they had not seen their families for a very long time due to the strict border restrictions, while others could not afford to live in Macau after losing their jobs.
Once they leave Macau for home, they will not be able to re-enter Macau because, since last year, the local authorities have barred entry for foreigners who do not have a Macau ID.