CE in the Legislative Assembly

CE in the Legislative Assembly – New gaming resorts further strain the HR market in 2016

2013-4-26

From：Macau Daily Times

The Chief Executive Fernando Chui said the already strained Human Resources market would receive extra pressure, as several major gaming resorts will be finalizing their construction projects by 2016. He hinted at the possibility of employing more foreign laborers and said the government is counting on the University of Macau’s new campus and other educational institutions to educate more talented people to feed the economic growth.
Several lawmakers have questioned the CE on UM’s new campus in Hengqin, as to whether it is ready to alleviate the problem of the Human Resources deficiency, which is hampering the city’s economic diversification. “Can UM’s new campus be an example for other tertiary institutions in Macau?” the lawmaker from the education sector Ho Sio Kam asked the CE.
As lawmakers from the business sector that has been complaining of the lack of Human Resources, Kou Hoi In and Tsui Wai Kwan stressed that HR problem has been hampering Macau’s economic diversification.
“All talent goes to work in casinos where the salaries are more competitive and it hampers economic diversification,” Tsui said, and asked the government for a comprehensive skills training and management policy.
In his reply, Chui stated that 89.6 percent of Macau’s secondary school students proceeded to tertiary education, which promises a large army of young professionals for the city. “I’ve learnt that the UM wants to develop its scale to accommodate 10,000 people in its new campus. The mission of the new UM is to train students in trades to meet Macau’s HR needs.”

Chui revealed that he has no idea what the ratio between local and foreign students at UM should be. He also mentioned the need to support other Macau educational institutions in training more talented workers for the city. The CE did not forget to emphasize that education is not only for Human Resources, but also to improve the quality of the population.
Talking about HR supply, he said that he expected the market to further expand by 2016. “The lack of HR will become more eminent in 2016 as several resorts will be completed then, so many new workers will join the service industry at the resorts that offer more competitive salaries. To break through this situation we need a collective effort by our society.” He said the government is building up a database of different disciplines available to the city, with a hope to end the mismatch of the demand and supply of skilled workers in the market. The MSAR leader also mentioned more support for small and medium enterprises, as well as regional cooperation with Guangdong to diversify the economy.
In response to Sio Chi Wai’s enquiry on the lack of bilingual (Portuguese and Chinese) workers, Chui said the there are currently 1,000 students studying Portuguese in tertiary institutions and 4,000 in other levels of schools, so Macau will to continue to be an important platform for cooperation between China and Lusophone countries.

Copyright@Macau Daily Times