Unemployment, causes, and consequences in debate at AL

Nick Lei

The unemployment rate among local residents, its causes, and consequences were highlighted yesterday at the Legislative Assembly (AL).

Dedicated to hearing the government’s replies to lawmakers on several topics, the session opened with several inquiries about unemployment and its consequences on society.

José Pereira Coutinho

Ella Lei, Nick Lei, and José Pereira Coutinho were three lawmakers raising questions. They wanted to hear from the government officials which measures and policies the government will take to solve the problems for residents who lost their jobs recently to obtain reemployment, as well as preventing similar events in the future.

Ella Lei criticized the measures so far enforced, noting there are still 14,700 people unemployed. For the lawmaker representing the workers’ sector, the government must review and change its policies, as the solution of having job matching sessions and others organized under the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) are not working.

She noted such measures only account for 20% of reemployment.

Ella Lei

Ella Lei said “unemployment is related to structural problems,” adding, it cannot be solved with “patch solutions.”

She also noted that although the number of locals looking for a job continues to expand, major companies, including the gaming concessionaires, “continue to hire a large number of non-resident workers (TNR)” as well as engaging in the activity of “fictional hiring.”

On the same topic, Nick Lei also called for action from the government, which is accused of having many slogans but few practical measures to achieve the goals stated in those slogans.

In response, the director of DSAL, Wong Chi Hong, was unable to provide a clear response on the intentions of the government, listing only some of the activities done by DSAL and stating that the entity is “paying attention to the job market in what concerns the offer and demand.”

For the short-term measures, Wong was only able to say the DSAL plans to extend training to different areas and industries and that there is also a new internship program directed to youngsters on the mainland.

Lawmakers not impressed

The response did not impress the lawmakers who called on the DSAL to inspect and solve the structural problems such as “fictional hiring and fake job ads,” Ella Lei said.,

“I don’t see the government doing any inspection or having any measures to improve on this matter, ” she added.

Lei responded to some figures on job matching from Wong, noting that recently over 1,000 TNR cooks and over 300 TNR maintenance workers have been hired by the big companies in Macau. She called on DSAL to draft a clear plan to train locals for these jobs soon, replacing the TNR who were hired because it was alleged there were no locals with the necessary qualifications.

In the reply to Nick Lei who had also addressed the problem of the number of TNR in public works developments, the Deputy Director of the Public Works Bureau, Luis Madeira de Carvalho said the hiring of locals to public developments cannot be subjected to a quota system as each development requires workers with specific skills and knowledge.

He said between 2021 and October this year, there were around 11,000 workers in different public works developments, noting that only 22% of these were locals (2,500 workers).

Responding again to Ella Lei, Wong blamed local workers for the lack of success of the reemployment efforts from the government, stating that only around 50% of them accept interviews for new jobs organized by the DSAL.

He also accused workers of being fastidious in their choice of a job. “Some workers also want to choose the job post and are not willing to take the job posts that are available.”

Wong also remarked that in the cases when the workers are reemployed via DSAL intervention if they get immediately fired “we always follow up on these cases. When this happens both the worker and employer must reflect this to DSAL,” he said.

On the same topic and as the debate broadened to other lawmakers, Ron Lam said the solution for the problem, namely of the construction workers, is dependent on certification of the workers’ skills. Lam wants the government to use a certification system to catalog the skills of these workers so there is no doubt of their capacities and they can be easily reemployed when needed.

Like the other lawmakers, Lam accused the government of having already spent over 2.8 billion patacas for professional training that “seems to have had no positive results.”

Admitting there is no certification, DSAL reaffirmed that this fact “does not jeopardize our work.”

Unemployment related to suicide rate

In a separate but related inquiry on the same topic, the lawmaker Pereira Coutinho related the problem of employment with the growth of the suicide in Macau.

The lawmaker said that difficulties with jobs, repayment of debts and mortgages, and other problems have a direct effect on suicide, criminality, and domestic violence.

The lawmaker criticized the high number of TNR still working in Macau in sectors such as finance, banking, insurance, education, real estate, and luxury goods retailing, among others.

The lawmaker said people are getting desperate because “the quality of life has been dropping.”

In response, a representative from the Health Bureau said the government has been following the mechanism of the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding suicide prevention.

According to the same official, eight healthcare centers across the city and islands are providing mental services that “already can fulfill the needs of all residents.”

Pereira Coutinho said residents are capable of taking these jobs in finance, education, and shopkeeper jobs, among others, removing any reasonable justification for the hiring of TNR for these positions.

In the reply, a representative of the DSAL noted that from the 40,000 TNR who have left Macau since 2019 and until the third quarter (Q3) this year, 46.2% were in jobs related to the gaming sector while another 7.8% were in finance-related jobs. The same official also noted the number of TNR in the real estate sector had also dropped 10.3% in the same period.

Also responding to some opinions and questions added by lawmakers Chan Hou Seng and Ron Lam, the same SSM official said that, due to the pandemic and the restrictions imposed, it is more complex to find cases of people needing help regarding suicide risk.

“Due to the pandemic, listening to people in need is difficult. They are in lockdown or quarantine or closed home and these factors have some influence on their mental state, including the youngsters. This causes many hidden cases of potential suicide,” he said, adding, “All these reasons are connected and can result in mental illness that then can result in the growth of the number of suicide cases. We will try to find these cases so we can provide support,” the acting director of the psychiatry department of the public hospital, Kwok Wai Tak, said.

Kwok also said Macau lacks professionals in this field, not only psychiatrists but also psychologists and other advisors. He said the problem could be soon aggravated due to the retirement of some of those working in this field currently.

“Some of these professionals are already quite old and soon are close to retirement. I have had the opportunity to address this problem already with the director of SSM. I hope I can bring you good news soon.”

Questioned on the time it takes for a person to be able to find an appointment with one of the counselors and other mental health professionals, Kwok said he hopes it would not take more than “4 to 8 weeks to get an appointment.”

He also said he hopes religious institutions in Macau can help with this matter by being included in the teams that support to the community.