A total of 176,666 non-resident workers were employed in the Macau SAR as at the end of September 2017, posting a marginal decrease from 176,889 recorded in August or a 0.12 per cent decrease, according to official data released by the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) yesterday.
As of September, the city’s hotels and restaurants continued to be the largest employers of foreign labour, with 50,126 employees, making up 28.37 per cent of the total non-resident workforce.
The number of workers employed in the hotels and restaurants sector experienced a slight increase of 10 workers month-on-month and an increase of 1.35 per cent, or 680 more workers than in September 2016.
The construction industry was the second largest employer, with a total of 30,656 non-resident workers employed by the construction industry, a drop of 22.08 per cent when compared to the 39,347 workers registered in the same month last year.
Of the total number of non-resident construction workers hired, 834 were employed directly by gaming operators, still according to information provided by DSAL on non-resident workers by activity.
Regarding the culture, entertainment, gaming and other activities sector, the number of workers employed as at the end of September was 13,438, a decline of 90 workers year-on-year and 127 workers month-on-month.
Other non-resident workers were primarily employed by the wholesale and retail industry (20,570), and real estate, industrial and commercial establishments (19,384).
The city accommodated some 26,250 domestic workers as at the end of September, an increase of 6.5 per cent from 24,533 a year before.
Sourcing from the region
Mainland China continued to be the main supplier of immigrant workers for the MSAR in the month, in which the number of workers totalled 111,619, accounting for 63.1 per cent of the total foreign workforce.
When compared to last year’s data, the number of Chinese workers fell 3.93 per cent from 116,191 workers.
The other two major origins of the city’s non-resident workers were the Philippines and Vietnam, which saw 27,878 and 14,734 of their nationals working in the city, down 6.8 per cent and 0.38 per cent year-on-year, respectively.
Overall, the number of workers coming from Hong Kong amounted to 5,189, down 26.86 per cent from 6,583 a year before.
The other countries and regions in the top-ten list of non-resident worker providers to the MSAR in September 2017 are all from Asia, and include Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and Myanmar.
