More than 70pct of job candidates are tourist visa-holders, industry says

2014-1-8

From：Macau Daily Times

The government revealed its intention on Monday to plug the existing loophole that allows tourists from other countries to look for jobs in Macau. However, local agencies focused on the domestic helpers market seem to be unaware of the would-be risk as they are all busy handling recruitment and immigration procedures for job seekers waiting in line in the office.
“I didn’t even know about it until you told me,” one manager of an employment agency said. “They have never consulted the industry,” she growled.
The manager, who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity, said that candidates are mainly from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. Most of them enter Macau with tourist visas.
Unlike procedures for migrant workers from the mainland, which can take at least one-and-a-half months, overseas candidates’ applications can be processed much faster. One of our sources stated: “I can go to the immigration authority to complete the application procedures the same day, once the employer hires the candidate.” After getting nods from both the employer and the authorities, “tourists” that go to Macau to try their luck become legal migrant workers. “They can work immediately while waiting for the blue card to be issued,” said the manager.
The demand for domestic helpers exceeds the supply. Overseas domestic helpers can receive around HKD4000 per month in the neighboring SAR. In contrast, the “market price” in Macau is MOP2500. “Many of them go to Hong Kong, where they are better paid. Those who failed in HK or have friends or relatives in Macau will work here.”
Recently, a casino hired 40 Vietnamese from an agent, paying between MOP6000 and MOP8000 to each of them monthly to work as waitresses or cleaners. “Of course, they prefer to work in casinos. These applicants can speak and understand Chinese; they are quite popular in the job market.”
But the biggest resistance prohibiting more applicants to Macau is actually from their own governments. “The Philippines immigration authorities just don’t allow them to go out of the country, even when all the documents are ready, and they don’t explain why,” according to the manager.
“If the government really wants to tackle the tourist visa regulation, start with negotiating with the foreign immigration authority first,” she suggested.
The manager believes that the government’s intention, once it takes shape, will further decrease the number of candidates. “Fewer people will come, and we may have to close our business.”
On the other hand, when Au Ieong Kuong Kau, President of the Macau Overseas Worker Employment Agency Association was approached by MDT yesterday, he said that the regulation would benefit the agent industry. “The government should have done it earlier. In other countries and regions, such as Taiwan, HK, Singapore and the mainland, tourists and migrant workers have to go through different visa procedures,” he expressed.
According to Mr Au Ieong, there are about 19,000 domestic helpers in Macau, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, namely the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. “Only 20 to 30 percent arrive in Macau with the assistance of agencies; the rest (some 70 percent) are coming directly with tourist visas. (…) Because it will take at least 20 days to get immigration approval via the formal process, but obviously it will work faster when they come in person.”
The qualifications of these domestic helpers have been criticized. He attributed that to the absence of regulation: “A local agent opened a training center in Vietnam for candidates who want to work in Macau, but many people get around that and come here by themselves.” The training center lost money, and Au Ieong, who also runs an employment agency, has quit the overseas worker service saying “I am not interested in doing the domestic worker business anymore since I cannot control the quality of these candidates.”
“It’s not candidates’ fault. Neither is it the employers’. It is about the law,” the president commented.
He stressed that visas for overseas job seekers, as well as for visitors, should be different. Besides, workers have to return to their place of origin when they change jobs to prevent job-hopping by malice or any other potential crimes caused by unemployment.
Regardless of the challenges and obstacles found along the way, nationals of Southeast Asian countries still cross the Macau border in the hope of a more colorful future.
In his book Life of Pi, Canadian Writer Yann Martel asks the question, “Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they’ve known for a greater unknown beyond the horizon? The answer is the same the world over: people move in the hope of a better life.”
As with many other fellow citizens, Christine Ga was in hoping for a better tomorrow when she first traveled from the Philippines to Macau six months ago.
Hoping that a few days of hunting would land her a job, she explained that citizens from the Philippines usually first come to Macau holding merely a tourist visa.
“There is no other way. We arrive with a tourist visa and we need to present a hotel booking as proof as well as a return flight ticket,” she recalled.
Informed that the government is thinking of revising legislation in order to discourage tourists from hunting for a job in Macau, Christine recognizes that such a measure will most likely have an impact on the lives of foreigners – whose main “gateway” to accessing Macau’s job market is to first enter the territory simply holding a tourist visa.
“Yes, I believe people will be afraid [of such a rule] (…) and many people will not be able to enter or get a job here without the tourist visa,” she said.
Thinking of solutions for the event that the government goes forward, Christine added that “Maybe in that case it will be possible to already start the [application] process in the Philippines.”
She too confirms that – surprisingly – challenges that domestic helpers face in finding a job in Macau are actually related to bureaucratic procedures back home.
“Sometimes it is difficult because they go back to the Philippines after one month and when trying to return it is bureaucratic,” she confirmed. The consulate is usually concerned regarding their livelihood and wishes to ensure that these domestic helpers can support themselves in Macau.
Over the last six months, Christine has been learning how to like a city which is not her own. Although she felt welcomed by her employers, she can’t help but miss her home.
But back in her warmer homeland, low salaries, the poor quality of life, and family members needing an extra helping hand speak louder. That is why many Philippine people find their way by immigrating to Macau, she said.
“Salaries are really low in the Philippines, and while we are here we try to help relatives back home.” *with staff reporter

Copyright@Macau Daily Times