Survey shows enterprises plan modest salary hikes in 2026

A joint survey conducted by two leading employment agencies in Macau reveals that local enterprises are increasingly reluctant to raise compensation, with even those planning to implement raises this year offering smaller adjustments compared to last year.

Two recruitment agencies – MSS Recruitment, which claims to be Macau’s leading recruitment and human resources company, and Hello-jobs.com, reputedly Macau’s most popular job-seeking website – launched a survey in November to assess this year’s intentions regarding salary increases and annual bonuses in Macau.

The results were based on responses from 99 local enterprises.

According to the findings, 76.76% of surveyed enterprises plan to increase salaries, with an average raise of 2.23% for employees in 2026.

Tu Jiji, executive director of MSS Recruitment and Hello-jobs.com, commented that these results align with expectations, reflecting a cautious normalization of Macau’s economic environment.

“Although major industries have recovered, growth momentum has stabilized, and upward potential may face constraints,” she noted.

“Companies are striving to balance business recovery with cost control, prioritizing the maintenance of the status quo over aggressive expansion. As a result, salary increases are being moderated to manage long-term fixed costs.”

The survey on annual bonuses shows relatively stable plans among companies to distribute bonuses, with an average amount expected to be around 1.07 months by the end of 2025. However, there has been a decline in the number of companies planning to give bonuses, dropping from 90.32% last year to 83.84% this year.

Additionally, some companies, accounting for 16.16%, explicitly stated they would not provide performance-based bonuses for the 2025 fiscal year. Observers noted that employers are being cautious with compensation strategies, choosing to offer stable bonuses as a way to retain employees rather than adopting more aggressive approaches.

Meanwhile, the minimum wage for employees has been raised to MOP35 per hour starting this month. Representatives from the Macau Property Management Business Association, one of the primary beneficiary groups, recently stated in an interview with a public broadcaster that 90% of management companies have yet to adjust their rates.

They noted that while the wage increase is only 2.9%, the actual costs also include social security, insurance, and overtime pay, with over one-third of the employees benefiting from this increase being foreign workers.

Representatives from the Association of Macao Cleaning Service Industry, another beneficiary group, expressed hope that future discussions on minimum wage adjustments by authorities would carefully examine current economic conditions, industry realities, and their impacts on society and people’s livelihoods.

They called for enhanced consultation and consideration of industry stakeholders’ opinions to prevent disproportionate effects on sectors like real estate, retail, and catering from minimum wage hikes. In a weak economy, they warned, this could trigger business closures, leading to unemployment for older workers or those with lower productivity, reduced job opportunities for individuals with lower education levels, and declines in service quality as companies cut costs through layoffs.