Nearly 26,000 foreign workers hired in 2023

Macau companies hired nearly 26,000 blue card holders in the past year, following a reduction in the number of foreign workers the year prior due to the pandemic.

As of the end of January, there were 177,561 non-resident workers in the SAR, an increase of 25,683 compared to the same month last year.

By January 2023, the number of foreign workers, including those from mainland China, had dropped to less than 152,000, marking the lowest level since April 2014.

Since the peak of 196,538 non-resident workers in December 2019, at the beginning of the pandemic, the city has seen a decrease of almost 45,000 non-residents, which accounts for 11.3% of the active population.

A recent data from the Labour Affairs Bureau shows that the number of non-resident workers has been steadily increasing for the past 12 months, reaching the highest level since the end of 2020.

Among the sectors, the hotel and restaurant industry hired the most non-resident workers in the past year, adding 13,110 employees. This was followed by the construction sector, which saw an increase of 2,950 workers, and the domestic workers sector, which added 2,788 workers.

The hotel and restaurant industry was severely impacted by the loss of labor during the pandemic, resulting in over 17,600 non-resident employees being laid off since December 2019.

The unemployment rate reached 4% in the third quarter of 2022, the highest figure since 2006.

However, by the end of last year, the unemployment rate had fallen to 2.3%, below the pre-pandemic historic low of 1.7%. Staff Reporter