The 5th ADBI-OECD-ILO Roundtable on Labour Migration in

Asia: Building Effective Structures and Institutions for

Migration Governance
Macao, China
Fung KWAN
Department of Economics, University of Macau;
Economic Development Committee, Macao, China
28th 30th January, 2015
Shanghai, PRC
The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of
the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Directors, or the governments
they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for
any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.
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Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Macao, China in General

The Labour Market
Migration
Non-Resident Worker Policy
Human Capital
Major Issues in 2014
a. Slow Down of GDP Growth
b. Human Capital
c. Min Wage Law
2

1. Macao, China in General

Name: Macao, China
Location: Pearl River Delta of the Southern Mainland
of PRC
Area: 29.9 km2
Population: 607,500 (end of 2013)
Structure of the economy: Secondary: 5.7%; Tertiary:
94.3% (2013)
Per capita GDP: USD87,306 (2013)
GDP growth: 11.9% (2013)
Inflation rate: 5.5% (2013, CPI)
Unemployment rate: 1.8% (2013)
HDI: 0.882 (2012)
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1.1. The economic growth has high correlation with the

gambling sector:
Macao, China Real GDP and Exports of Services in Gaming
(Billion of 2012 MOP)
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

GDP

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Exports of Services in Gaming

Source: A Macroeconometric Model of Macao, Department of Economics, University of Macau

1.2. The economic growth has high correlation with the

gambling sector:
Macao Economic Growth
(%)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

-10
-20
GDP

Exports of Services in Gaming

Source: A Macroeconometric Model of Macao, Department of Economics, University of Macau

2. The Labour Market

2.1 Labour Supply
2010

2011

2013

323.9

336.3

367.8

Labour Force Participation Rate (%)

72

72.5

72.7

Unemployed population (000)

9.2

8.7

6.7

Overall unemployment rate (%)

2.8

2.6

1.8

Unemployment rate of local residents (%)

3.5

3.2

2.4

Labour Force ('000)

Source: Statistics and Census Service, Macao, China

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2. The Labour Market

2.2 Structure of Employment
Employed population by industry (%)

2006

2011

2013

Manufacturing

11.1

3.9

2.5

Construction

11.7

8.6

9.8

Wholesale and retail trade

13.7

13.3

12.4

Hotels, restaurants and similar activities

11.3

14.1

15.0

Transport, communications and storage

6.3

4.9

4.4

Financial intermediation, real estate & business

activities

8.7

11

10.2

Public Administration & Social Security

6.8

7.1

Social & personal services (excluding gaming)

12.7

15.1

14.9

Gaming

16.1

21.4

23.1

Others

0.6

0.7

0.6

Source: Statistics and Census Service, Macao, China

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2. The Labour Market

2.3 Earnings of Employed Workers
Industry

Employed Population
(including non-local workers)
2008
2013
8,000
12,000
4,000
8,500
10,000
12,000
7,000
10,000
6,000
8,800
8,500
12,300
5,500
9,000
18,000
27,200
12,000
19,000
12,000
15,300

Overall Median (MOP)

Manufacturing
Construction
Wholesale & Retail Trade
Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities
Transport, Storage & Communication
Real Estate & Business Activities
Public Administration & Social Security
Education
Recreational, Cultural & Other Services
MOP8 ~ USD1
Source: Statistics and Census Service, Macao, China

3. Migration
Permanent and Non-permanent migration
Permanent migration: Scheme of Investment
Residency Application
Purchase of fixed assets (cancelled)
Management and technical personnel
Investment plan
Non-permanent migration: Non-resident Worker
and overseas students for higher education
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4. Non-Resident Worker Policy

Non-resident workers accounted for a tiny portion of
the total employment before the introduction of more
competition of the gaming sectors in 2004.
According to the government, non-resident workers are
supplement to the shortage of local labour in selected
sectors, manufacturing mainly in the 1980s & 1990s.
Application for non-resident workers requires the
approval from the governments Human Resources
Office.
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4. Non-Resident Worker Policy

4.1 Origins of non-resident workers %
Origin

2006

2010

2013

Peoples Republic of China

57.8

58.9

60.5

Philippines

11.3

14.2

14.7

Hong Kong, China

18.9

6.3

4.5

Indonesia

3.4

4.6

3.8

Viet Nam

2.1

8.6

9.2

Others

6.5

7.4

7.3
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4. Non-Resident Worker Policy

4.2 Trends of Non-resident workers
Year

Employed Local Residents Employed Non-local Workers

Number

Changes

Number

Changes

2008

235,000

92,161

2009

241,000

6,000

74,905

-17,256

2010

251,500

10,500

75,813

908

2011

258,600

7,100

94,028

18,215

2012

263,700

5,100

110,552

16,524

2013

270,100

6,400

90,900

-19,652

Accumulated Changes

35,100

-1,261
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Sources: Statistics and Census Service, Human Resources Office, Macao, China

4. Non-Resident Worker Policy

4.3 Structure of Employment of Resident & Non-resident Workers
Industry
Manufacturing
Construction
Wholesale & Retail Trade
Hotels, Restaurants & Similar Activities
Transport, Storage & Communication
Real Estate & Business Activities
Public Administration & Social Security
Education
Recreational, Cultural & Other Services
Others
Total

Employed Local
Residents
2008
2013
12,300
6,800
25,100
20,400
33,300
36,400
27,400
28,500
13,400
16,200
20,100
19,300
25,500
10,600
61,800
85,600
15,600
46,800
235,000
270,100

Employed
Non-local Workers
2008
2013
10,364
2,200
15,784 14,900
6,977
8,300
18,026 25,800
2,520
8,177
7,500
150
200
775
14,757
7,800
14,631 24,200
92,161 90,900

Source: Statistics and Census Service, Macao, China

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5. Human Capital
Macao residents who were born in the early 1990s are able to receive
tertiary education, significantly improved the quality of its labour force
overtime.
Education Attainment
Employed Population
(including non-local
workers)
2008
2013
no
%
no
%
No Schooling/Pre-primary Education
14,800
4.7
11,800
3.3
Primary Education
53,300 16.8
48,700
13.5
Junior Secondary Education
95,500 30.1
88,500
24.5
Senior Secondary Education
87,000 27.4
10,300
2.9
Tertiary Education
66,400 20.9 109,100
30.2
Unknown
100
0.0
Total
317,100
361,000
Source: Statistics and Census Service, Macao, China

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5. Human Capital
University education is the major source of
skilled labour.
There is limited provision of vocational trainings
by the local sectoral-based non-profit
organizations, mainly on the training of gaming
services.
Partly due to the scale effect, professional
organizations are at their infant stage.
Import of non-resident workers is largely on:
Manufacturing (unskilled mainly)
Construction (skilled and unskilled)
Business services (skilled and unskilled)
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5. Human Capital
With more casino operators setting their business after
2004, more non-resident workers were employed:
construction workers from the Peoples Republic of China
and Hong Kong, China; middle and senior management
personnel from Hong Kong, China and the US mainly.
Yet, the majority of those working in the casinos, the
dealers (or croupiers), remained locally employed.
The increase of non-resident workers is driven by the
expansion of the gaming sector lubricated by FDI / foreign
capital. Since the dealers are restricted to local workers, the
more the non-resident workers, the little the effect on
improvement of the local human capital: highly-educated
non-resident workers are at managerial employment.
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6. Major Issues in 2014 Slow Down of GDP Growth

With the introduction of more competition on gaming in 2004,
real GDP growth has been 12.5% per annum (2004-2013).
Per capita GDP was USD87,306 in 2014, in comparison to
USD22,450 in 2004
In 2014, GDP growth dropped to 12.4%, 8.1%, and -2.1% for the
first three quarters, largely due to the decline of external
demand with gaming revenue continuously decreased since
June.
Possible reasons:
Revenue from VIP room declined significantly than the
moderate increase of that from hall (mass gaming);
Bankruptcy of VIP rooms in some casinos; and
Anti-corruption policy in Peoples Republic of China.
Normal adjustment?
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6. Major Issues in 2014 Human Capital

The Macao Government set up a Talents Development Committee
in early 2014:
Formulating, planning & coordinating LR strategy for promoting
talents (human capital)
Strengthen local talents retention & encourage overseas talents
returning to Macao
Coordination of international talents training projects & events
Three Task Forces:
of Planning & Evaluation
of Encouraging Talents to Return to Macao
of Talents Training Program
Elites Nurturing Plan
Incentive Plan for the Qualified Professionals
Skilled Talents Acquiring Plan
Subsidy Scheme for Global Leaders Master Course of University
of Cambridge
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6. Major Issues in 2014 Min Wage Law

Macao a member of ILO

Obligation to set up min wage law
The Government initiated public consultation
On government subcontracting services: cleaners
and property management workers in property
management sector
Proposed min hourly wage ~USD3.5
Different opinions from employees and employers
Under discussion of the Legislative Assembly

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Fung Kwan
Department of Economics, University of Macau
Economic Development Committee, Macao, China

FungKwan@umac.mo