Legislative Assembly | Lawmakers raise employment concerns for soon-to-be graduates

Several lawmakers have voiced their concerns regarding Macau’s employment situation in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During yesterday’s Legislative Assembly (AL) plenary session, lawmakers Lam Lon Wai, Lei Chan U, Ella Lei, Si Ka Lon and Chan Hong, among others, shared their thoughts on employment opportunities for the city’s university students, current workers and talented immigrants.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the Macau SAR government has launched a series of supportive measures, including paid training and financial support for freelancers. These measures are intended to protect jobs for specific groups of workers.
However, in Lam Lon Wai’s opinion, the local government “obviously lacks” support for final year secondary school and university students who are about to enter the employment market.
Lam hopes that the government will launch a new round of employment support measures and provide more vacancies and a wider coverage of areas in order to include graduates in these benefits.
According to Lam, due to the impact of Covid-19, this year recorded fewer internship opportunities for students with degrees in hospitality, tourism and retail.
In 2019, nearly 88% of Macau’s approximately 4,000 university graduates became employed in Macau. Nearly 55% of Macau residents studying outside of Macau showed an interest in returning to Macau after graduating from university. This year, Macau will also have about 4,000 university graduates, according to a survey conducted by the Higher Education Bureau.
Lawmaker Chan Hong expects there to be a higher number of Macau students choosing to stay in Macau for a job this year compared to 2018. Chan suggested that the SAR government should carry out a university graduate employment and entrepreneurship survey in order to provide accurate support and job-matching to students.
Besides Lam and Chan, Ella Lei and Lei Chan U expressed their usual demands, such as protecting local workers and establishing a trade union law.
Also concerned about employment, Si Ka Lon advocated for new immigrants, in particular residence renewals for residents who immigrated to Macau through the investment immigration plan and the technical immigration plan.