Youth career expo offers 1,600 openings as graduates face competitive job market

Local labor officials are stepping up calls for early career planning, launching a two-day Youth Career Expo on Friday at the Macau Tower that brought together more than 50 employers from Macau and the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, with over 1,600 job and internship openings.

This year’s fair offered roles across sectors including finance, hotel operations, catering, and information technology, and introduced a mock interview workshop designed to help recent graduates refine their presentation skills.

At the opening, Chan Un Tong, director of the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL), said the government has broadened the expo’s scope in recent years to reflect shifting economic policies and industry needs. “With the evolving policies and industries in mind, we should rationally plan our long-term career paths, seize the opportunities presented by the diversified development of our core industries, and explore broader career development opportunities,” he said.

Chan said the Youth Employment Expo has matured over the years, with steady improvements in support services and an expanding pool of resources for young people. He also pledged that his bureau will continue to work with community partners to upgrade employment support measures.

Chan highlighted that Macau’s drive for moderate economic diversification, alongside deeper integration with Hengqin, is creating new pathways for young job seekers, and advised participants to engage directly with employers and strengthen their competitiveness in a market where “challenges and opportunities coexist.”

On the sidelines of the event, a recruitment representative, surnamed Fan, told media that his company places strong emphasis on candidates’ performance and problem-solving skills during interviews.

“I think many young people have easy access to opportunities now, but we should also look at their performance in the workplace,” he said. “Since they are young job seekers, we don’t really expect them to have a lot of work experience. Instead, their performance on the spot […] is the most important thing.”

Fan added that independent thinking helps candidates stand out. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a perfect, 100% accurate answer, but rather whether you’ve thought about it and offered your own insights,” he said.

“When young people join our company, we focus on who demonstrates initiative […] and who contributes to business development.”

At the same time, he said salary levels are unlikely to rise significantly this year given the broader economic backdrop, with pay expected to remain broadly flat compared with last year and companies being “a bit more conservative than before.”

Among attendees on Friday, sentiment was a mix of cautious optimism and awareness of intense competition.

A recent business graduate from the University of Macau said she arrived with copies of her résumé and had already applied for roles in marketing and events management. “The range of companies is wider than I expected, especially with Hengqin firms here,” she said.

Another participant, surnamed Wong, recently completed an internship program in cybersecurity and said he is focusing on finding another internship as a way to build experience. “There are opportunities, but the competition is strong,” he said. “I think employers want people who can adapt quickly […] not just technical skills.”

Meanwhile, Lam, a resident who returned to Macau after graduating from a mainland university, told the Times he hoped to secure a position after studying translation and interpretation but found that many preferred roles still require prior work experience. He said he would nonetheless actively pursue openings at the fair and indicated that he was also keen to apply for a position as an air steward with Air Macau.