Workers’ lawmakers call on gov’t to investigate ‘fake job offers’

Three lawmakers representing the Macao Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) yesterday expressed their concerns about the continued growth of the unemployment rate among local residents, as well as the inability of the government to help those in that situation, including the long-term unemployed, become re-employed.

At the Legislative Assembly (AL) during the period before the agenda, Leong Sun Iok, Ella Lei, and Lam Lon Wai delivered three spoken inquiries addressing this matter, with Lei going even further and accusing local companies of promoting fake job offers and recruitment events when they had no intention of recruiting any workers.

“According to some candidates, some employers say they do not need to hire anyone; they are just recruiting to collaborate with the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL). Is the government aware of this? Are you following the entire process, from the job matching session to the eventual recruitment? How are you going to oversee the fictitious recruitment?” Lei demanded.

The same lawmaker also claimed that job applicants “are sending many job applications [to the job offers listed by DSAL]” but do not receive a response.

Lei also remarked that there are frequent mismatches between the job offers presented, the qualifications demanded, and the salary offered for these positions, making it barely possible for someone to qualify.

“The government should note that in Macau, there is not only recruitment for the unqualified job posts [but also] for low-wage jobs, a fact that reflects that the rule of prioritizing the hiring of local workers is not being followed,” Lei added.

“I once again urge the government to carry out a proper analysis of the job offers, organize recruitment sessions to strengthen the matching between job offer and demand, and to create mechanisms to monitor the situation of hiring local workers to prevent fictitious advertising,” she said.

“Regarding large-size companies and those [in] relevant economic sectors, [the government should enforce strict] standards and quotas for the hiring and training of local staff, as well as call for the clear presentation of proposals [by the same companies], including goals for the training of local workers so that intermediate and higher categories are occupied by residents to alleviate unemployment and promote the professional development of the population,” the same lawmaker proposed.

Before her, the lawmaker Leong had already remarked that the high unemployment rate – the highest in 12 years – cannot be solved with random measures or promises of subsidies, but with concrete measures, calling on the government to pay special attention to the workers’ rights regarding those who, due to work, had to travel and those who are having their salaries cut due to the need to undergo quarantines and other restrictions outside of their control, which should be the responsibility of employers who send them abroad as part of their work duties.

Lawmaker Lam also noted what he considers the slow and late response of the government to the hiring of local workers for the citywide, key groups and area-specific nucleic acid tests, saying that the government proceeded with the immediate hiring of non-resident workers (TNR) without screening properly to see whether there were locals who could do the job, resulting in the delayed hiring of locals who could only fill part-time posts and not the full-time ones, which were already occupied by TNR.