The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released the results of Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the first quarter of 2024, which covered the Manufacturing sector; the Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sector; Hotels; Restaurants; the Child-care and Elderly Care industries.

Full-time employees in Hotels recorded notable year-on-year growth

Information from DSEC indicated that soaring visitor arrivals and steady recovery of the tourism related industries drove up the demand for manpower. Number of full-time employees in Hotels (56,414) rose significantly by 23.2% year-on-year at the end of the first quarter of 2024. Full-time employees in Restaurants (24,005), Elderly Care (1,425) and Manufacturing (7,839) went up by 6.2%, 5.6% and 4.6% respectively, while those in Child-care (1,404) and Electricity, Gas & Water Supply (1,077) dropped by 6.8% and 0.2% respectively.

Average earnings in Hotels and Restaurants increased

Except in Manufacturing, the average earnings (excluding irregular remuneration) of full-time employees in all the other surveyed industries registered growth in March 2024. Average earnings of full-time employees in Hotels (MOP20,470) and Restaurants (MOP10,610) increased by 2.6% and 3.5% respectively year-on-year, and the earnings of those in Elderly Care (MOP16,840), Child-care (MOP16,780) and Electricity, Gas & Water Supply (MOP30,950) went up by 3.2%, 2.3% and 1.9% respectively. Meanwhile, the average earnings of full-time employees in Manufacturing (MOP12,520) edged down by 0.9%.

Job vacancies in Hotels and Restaurants dropped year-on-year

At the end of the first quarter, job vacancies in Hotels (1,455) and Restaurants (1,525) declined by 1,156 and 574 respectively year-on-year, as many of the vacant posts in these two industries have been gradually filled. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 89.9% and 84.7% of the job vacancies in Restaurants and Manufacturing required senior secondary education or lower, while 84.2% of the vacancies in Electricity, Gas & Water Supply required tertiary education. As mainland China remained the largest visitor source market of Macao, 91.2% of the vacancies in Hotels required knowledge of Mandarin, and 54.8% required knowledge of English.

Manpower demand in Hotels and Restaurants slowed

Both the job vacancy rates and the employee recruitment rates in Hotels and Restaurants dropped year-on-year in the first quarter. The job vacancy rates of Hotels (2.5%) and Restaurants (6.0%) decreased by 2.9 and 2.5 percentage points respectively. Moreover, the employee recruitment rates of Hotels (5.4%) and Restaurants (5.2%) fell by 4.3 and 0.1 percentage points respectively. The figures indicated a slowdown in demand for manpower in the above two industries.