Lawmakers urge for tighter measures over non-local workforce imports
Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) counters
Several lawmakers are calling for clearer contract cessation of non-local workforce at the parliament’s plenary session yesterday.
26 lawmakers signed up to give pre-agenda speeches before the session.
During his speech, lawmaker Ron Lam pointed out that a lot of companies are in fact major non-local workforce employers, despite operating government tenders or contracts.
He used a cleaning company as an example. According to Lam, the company in question, which is the winner of a number of government service contracts, has 1,333 non-local workers in its pool.
He said that if the government required these companies to hire local workers for non-technical positions as well, at least 1,000 local workers could be employed. It would also save a lot of time and resources for job-matching and subsidized training.
Meanwhile, lawmaker José Chui pointed out the fact that Macau is seeing skill-mismatch in the labor market. He called for the better categorization of these factors so as to simplify things for both employers and employees.
Speaking on tourism and gambling topics but touching on employment problems, lawmaker Angela Leong made several suggestions to the government on boosting tourism, which should eventually help stabilize the employment market.
On this matter, while highlighting the appeal of various types of activities held in the attempt to attract tourists, the lawmaker also suggested that the government explore the possibilities of regional multiple-stop tours with mainland agencies.
Furthermore, cross-sector and cross-boundary tours would, in her opinion, also help develop MICE tourism. It would also help Macau live out its multifaceted positioning strategies.
She recapped Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng’s request for the tourism industry to broaden the source market of Macau and not only focus on mainland Chinese tourists.
At the same time, lawmaker Becky Song expressed her hope that the government would provide more support to local people in financial and economic ways.
She first complimented the government for easing its position on “satellite casinos” – those that are not located within properties of any gambling concessionaire – which has already increased confidence in the community generally.
However, she pointed out that due to a variety of factors, prospects are still unclear. Therefore, she hoped the government would not only provide greater support, but also engage in further dialogue with casino operators.
