The idea of further restricting the hiring of imported labor has been on the agenda of several lawmakers since the post-pandemic period, when many local residents lost their jobs and access to the job market became difficult for recent graduates.
Recent statistics indicate that, in 2025, the number of non-resident workers (TNRs), also commonly known as “bluecards,” increased slightly (0.6%), largely due to the hiring of domestic workers.
The same statistics, released by the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) and based on documents attributed to the immigration department of the Public Security Police Force, continue to show that four other major sectors of activity (in addition to Domestic Work) account for the majority of imported labor hires.
At the top of the list of those importing the most workers is the hospitality sector, including hotels, restaurants, and similar activities, which, at the end of 2025, employed approximately 53,888 TNRs, representing 29.3% of the total at year-end (183,679).
Following the hospitality sector, albeit at a substantial distance, was the construction sector, which accounted for 25,721 workers (14%).
The construction sector was followed closely by real estate and business activities, which include jobs such as security, cleaning, and property management services, as well as information technology services and other similar activities.
This group counted almost 24,000 TNRs (23,993), of which almost 21,000 (20,806) were employed in security, cleaning, and property management services.
Closing the top four was the wholesale and retail trade sector, which employed 20,695 TNRs (11.3%).
Despite occupying the fifth position with barely half of the number of TNRs, there were 11,446 TNRs employed in recreational, cultural, gaming, and other services (6.2%), of whom the majority (4,673) were employed in the gaming sector.
[Photo; Lynzy Valles]
Another leap is required to reach the sixth position in this ranking, occupied by the manufacturing sector, which employed 5,413 TNRs (2.9%), while transport, storage, and communications employed some 5,226 (2.8%).
Education ranked eighth with 3,888 TNRs (2.1%), with the notable exception that among these, the large majority (2,215) were specialized workers, a pattern not observed in any of the previously mentioned groups, where the vast majority comprised non-specialized workers.
Health and social welfare ranked ninth, with 3,191, a figure that, despite being close to that of education, tells a completely different story, since of these, over 3,000, only 306 were specialized workers.
Surprisingly, the financial activities sector, which comprises banks, insurance, and similar activities, had only 871 TNRs, accounting for 0.5% of the total number of TNRs. As in the education sector, within this group, the majority of TNRs (441) held specialized positions.
This group was one of the most heavily targeted, namely by lawmakers representing the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, as well as lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho, in the last few years, as one of the most “problematic” groups, in which they claimed there was a very high number of TNRs performing duties for which there is sufficient local supply.
The hospitality issue
Several human resources (HR) experts, as well as lawmakers, have historically attributed the high number of TNRs in the hospitality industry to the difficulty of attracting local manpower for posts that are paid below the median monthly earnings in Macau, which stood at approximately MOP17,300 to MOP18,000 as of late 2025, combined with the need for long working shifts, uncompensated overnight shifts, and fewer rest and annual leave days than in other sectors.
Mainland China accounts for 65.6%
Not surprisingly, the mainland is the largest supplier of non-resident manpower to Macau, accounting for 65.6%, meaning that over 120,000 TNRs (120,465) arrive from the mainland.
The Philippines ranks first in terms of foreign workers, with 31,926 (17.4%), of whom there is an almost even proportion between those performing domestic work duties and those in other jobs.
Third overall is Indonesia, although with a significantly smaller share (4.5%), or 8,304 workers. In contrast to the Philippines, two-thirds of Indonesian workers are employed in domestic work, and only one-third are in other positions.
Vietnam has historically competed with Indonesia for third place in terms of origin. In 2024, Vietnam ranked third, dropping to fourth by the end of 2025, with the difference marginal. Vietnam’s supply reached 7,850 TNRs in 2025, accounting for 4.3% of all bluecard holders.
In fifth place is Myanmar, which, at the end of last year, had approximately 4,792 of its nationals working in Macau as TNRs. Myanmar’s share in this category is 2.6%, followed by Nepal at 2.1% (3,844).
Seventh place is occupied by the neighboring region of Hong Kong, which, according to statistics, recorded slightly over 2,000 TNRs in Macau, followed by a series of countries with a residual share (below 0.5%).
Among these, the first non-Asian country in the ranking is the United States, ranked 14th, with a supply of 132 TNRs to Macau. The US is followed by Canada (104) and the UK (102).
The vast majority of TNRs from these three countries are recorded in positions within the education sector, while a few are also recorded in positions within the hospitality and gaming sectors. RM
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