Academics and a local recruitment company say the 183 new vacant positions will not have much impact upon the local private labour force

The MSAR Government offered 183 positions for senior technician level in various government departments, according to a dispatch published in the Official Gazette by the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) on Wednesday.
The salary offered is MOP34,830 (US$4,359) per month for each position based upon the current salary point of the civil servants at MOP81, plus other welfare benefits set for the city’s civil servants.
The vacant positions in various government departments are for public administrative management, environmental engineering, museology, electrical and mechanical engineering, law, information technology, auditing, statistics, archaeology, public health, and transportation.
For this year, the government is implementing a unified management approach for the first time to recruit civil servants by having two separate assessments.
First, a candidate has to undergo a comprehensive capacity assessment conducted by SAFP; once a candidate successfully passes it, then a second assessment of professional competence will be done by a relevant department.
In addition, applicants can register online by setting up a public service access account online.
Applications, starting from yesterday, will be invited for 20 days until November 8. Eligible candidates must have a Bachelor degree and be Macau permanent residents.

No direct impact
Academics and a local recruitment company told Business Daily that no direct impact from the new government job offerings would affect the local labour force, given most of the new jobs offered by the government are for professional and highly skilled positions.
Academics believe that this is a good way for the city to attract fresh graduates returning to Macau from overseas studies.
“It is good that the government offers these jobs because a lot of fresh graduates from overseas may actually have a hard time finding jobs such as in the museum sector as this position requires expertise,” Professor Rico Lam Long Wai, head of the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Macau, told Business Daily by telephone.
However, Professor Lam said that some of the local accounting firms may lose some of their employees switching to the government due to the new offerings.
“But for the majority of the other jobs listed by the government, I don’t think the impact upon the local labour force in the private companies will be too drastic,” Professor Lam added.

Dream jobs
Government jobs offer a higher salary than the city’s market rate. The different career progression in a government job and the private sector is the main reason for such salary difference, Business Daily has learned.
“Private companies usually offer more opportunities for career advancement, therefore a government job usually pays a bit more because they’re more stable and the salary adjustment may not be as frequent as the private companies can offer,” Profession Lam explained.
Jiji Tu, Managing Director of MSS Recruitment, also agrees that new government job offerings would not have much impact upon the local workforce market but Ms. Tu believes that many local people generally prefer a government job.
“Government jobs have always been the first priority for many people,” Ms. Tu said.
However, Ms. Tu also said that the career progression in government jobs is limited compared to people working for a commercial firm.
“For some government jobs, you get high salary and stable working hours, but sometimes the jobs are not very interesting especially at the junior level. But if you’re working in the private sector you get more interesting and challenging dynamics and get a lot more opportunities so you could quickly climb your career ladder to a certain level,” Ms. Tu said.
Joey Lao Chi Ngai, director of the Macau Economic Association, also agreed that the new job openings would not have a direct impact upon the city’s labour market in the private sector.
“183 new job positions are not that many, actually, if you divide the number of new job offerings by each government department. And each year, there are people who reach their retirement age so I don’t think this will have a direct impact upon the city’s labour market,” Mr. Lao said.

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