A Macau labor rights association has warned of the potential for massive job losses once the casino concessions are awarded.
New Macau Gaming Staff Rights Association Cloee Chao told the Macau News Agency that in the current climate there are about “half more employees than needed.”
The six concessionaires have been under pressure from the government not to shed their resident work force, despite the empty casino floors. Furthermore, the government has also made it clear that they are responsible for staff at any of the satellite casinos if they close.
The government is aiming to complete the concession re-tender by the end of this year and Chao said she believed that the operators would wait until their positions were secure before shedding employees.
She said she hoped the government would include conditions in the license to prevent that from happening.
Macau’s operators have now had two-and-a-half years of severely reduced revenue, with no real catalysts to improve the situation in the short term. Analysts are expecting June revenue to be about 80 percent below pre-pandemic levels and could be worse unless visitation picks up.
The borders are closed to any tourists from outside of Greater China and only visitors from Mainland China can enter without facing 14 days of mandatory quarantine in a designated hotel.