Employment and earnings
The period between 2004 and last year represents a remarkable period for Macau’s economy and the dynamics of its labour force. In just five years, the total number of employed workers rose by about 45 percent or about 100,000 workers in absolute terms.

These figures hide the diversity between each of the economy’s sectors. For example, manufacturing was the biggest employer in Macau in 2004. The sector has since lost more than half of its workforce, against the trend in other sectors. It is now ranked sixth, a position that may shortly be lost to the domestic helpers sector if current trends continue.

In the construction sector, the size of the workforce more than doubled in size in three years earlier this decade, but now appears to be past its peak in 2007-08.

Somewhat surprisingly, the number of retail workers has increased by just 20 percent. That makes the hotels and restaurants group, and gaming the only major employment drivers in this sector, having seen their ranks multiply by a factor of 1.8 and 2.7, respectively.

Curiously enough, the champion when judged on relative growth is the comparatively small domestic helpers sector. Its size has more than tripled, making it bigger than the education sector.

In the bigger and most closely watched sectors, average earnings increased throughout the period, by values between 40 and 90 percent.

In a period were inflation was not significant, these figures suggest a palpable growth in real earnings. The strongest performance was registered in the hospitality sector, reflecting neatly the opening of several luxury hotels.

The trend of steadily appreciating average wages is consistent, although not completely comparable, with the median earnings in various sectors obtained from the general survey.

The different classification used in this survey means direct comparisons cannot be made, which is particularly regrettable for the gaming sector. Where comparisons are possible, there appears to be an increase in earnings asymmetries in the most dynamic sectors.

If we look now at the dispersion of earnings in relation to the overall median for all earnings, only three sectors have outperformed.

They are: construction, which appears to be losing steam; gambling, which is included in the general category of “leisure services” and where earnings are generally about 50 percent above the overall median; and public administration, by far the sector with the highest median earnings.

The earnings of those in the public administration sector even appear to have reversed a declining trend evident in the first years of the survey period.

The abandoned sectors of the boom, in terms of earnings, have been manufacturing and the domestic helpers sector. In the first case, the relative level of earnings has plateaued. In the second case we have seen a decline.

If the same analysis is made for classes of occupations and not economic sectors, the same general upward trend in median earnings is clear. Note that we follow the nine classes of occupations used in the official statistics, just simplifying their designations.

The first two categories include top management, professionals and jobs in politics, and are neatly detached from the rest.

However, if we put our faith in the figures, look at relative earnings and exclude unskilled workers from the analysis, the main beneficiaries of the economic boom have been the lowest occupational categories, comprising skilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a surprising result and one that requires more detailed data to be analysed.

The final table displays two fundamental features that should not surprise. First, it confirms there are earnings clusters relative to the overall median that appear closely linked to the training associated with each of the classes of occupation.

The graph also shows there were some oscillations in the relative position of the various occupations, in terms of relative earnings. Overall, the relative standings of the occupations has been mostly stable across the period surveyed.

by José I. Duarte
Economist /Macau Business
Senior Analyst Data source: DSEC Charts and graphics in our paper edition and MB online browseable