Number of blue card holders lowest since 2013

The number of non-resident workers in Macau has declined to 154,912 in 2022, a continues decrease of 9.4% year-on-year, data from the Labour Affairs Bureau shows.

The reduction in the number of migrant workers in the region is attributable to the pandemic and border closure that has led to economic and business downturn.

Data from the DSAL late last year noted that non-resident workers employed by the six gaming operators has declined by 47.5% between January 2020 and October 2022.

40,000 non-resident workers have left Macau either because of the lack of jobs or because of the government’s decision not to renew the workers’ permits to prioritize local residents’ access to jobs during times in which the unemployment rate was high.

Back in mid-2020, integrated resorts did not renew the contracts of most of their non-resident workers, particularly those in the service industry as casinos have been bleeding cash every day due to the strict virus restrictions.

Prior to the pandemic, the city had some 196,500 blue card holders.

The government has previously admitted that the hotel sector is understaffed amid the current tourism advertising campaign that aims to boost tourist arrivals in the city following the easing of border restrictions on Sunday.

Due to the layoffs during the onset of the pandemic, “it may be difficult to replenish manpower in the short term.”

The government is currently examining the shortage of workers to understand which job vacancies can be easily filled with the recruitment of migrant workers. LV