Surveyed employees report 30% income drop

A survey conducted by a local association show that nearly 72% of employed residents reported lower income than last year.

Last week, the Macau Federation of Trade Unions published a survey of 3,462 respondents about the pandemic’s impact on employment in Macau. The survey was aimed at understanding the actual impact of the coronavirus outbreak on residents since the start of the city’s largest outbreak mid-June, which led to a partial lockdown.

Over 78.5% of respondents said their employers’ businesses were suspended during the 12-day partial lockdown to avoid transmission of the virus.

During the lockdown, the government suspended all non-essential businesses and activities, including casino operations.

Of respondents who said their employers’ businesses were suspended, 40% were on unpaid leave during the partial lockdown, while 40% received only half-pay.

According to the Macau Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), the territory’s overall unemployment rate stood at 4.1% from May to July this year, which was the highest level since the period September to November 2005. The unemployment rate for residents reached 5.4%, which was the highest level since such data was available in 2008.

Meanwhile, 72.69% of respondents said they have suffered lower income so far this year and most reported a year-on-year decline of 20% to 30% in wages.

Quarantine-free travel between the mainland and the city was thought by 57.8% of respondents to be the main cause of improving employment in Macau, while 34.55% of respondents considered that promoting domestic demand could boost employment.

The median earnings for the city’s overall workforce in the second quarter of 2022 was MOP15,300, and MOP19,400 for residents, the latest DSEC data said, down from MOP15,500 and MOP20,000 respectively for the same period a year earlier.

Comparing the survey results with the latest employment data published by the DSEC, a representative of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions made several proposals to improve employment in Macau including optimizing the e-consumption voucher scheme and continuing to provide job-matching services for unemployed and underemployed residents. 

Following the publication of the survey results, the Macau Federation of Trade Unions called on authorities to roll out another round of e-consumption vouchers of MOP8,000 for each of those residents who had already received a MOP8,000 vouchers before the latest coronavirus outbreak.

“[The scheme of e-consumption vouchers] can effectively relieve the financial pressure on households, while it can also support the operation of small-and-medium-sized enterprises to ease unemployment,” the association said. Staff Reporter