Results of Manpower needs and wages survey for 4th quarter 2004 – Gaming Industry

Survey coverage of the Gaming Industry for the fourth quarter of 2004 excludes junket promoters and junket associates. Information on the number of employees, number of vacancies and earnings is as follows: At the end of the fourth quarter of 2004, there were 21,264 paid employees engaged in the Gaming Industry, an increase of 7.5% compared with the second quarter of 2004. Analyzed by occupation, 11,637 were engaged in positions that are directly related to betting services, such as Hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, dealers, betting service operators, etc., an increase of 9.3% over the second quarter of 2004, while 4,920 were engaged as “Services and sales workers”, which included mainly Casino and slot machine attendants / hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc., up 7.9% compared with the second quarter of 2004. In December 2004, average earnings for full-time paid employees of this industry fell 1.4% over June 2004 to MOP 10,730; the average for resident workers dropped 1.6% to MOP 9,870 whereas the average for non-resident workers was MOP 20,174, a slight increase of 0.3%. Average earnings for those positions that are directly related to betting services, such as Hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, dealers, betting service operators, etc. was MOP 11,420, a decrease of 4.8%. Average earnings for “Services and sales workers”, which included mainly Casino and slot machine attendants / hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc. remained at similar level as June 2004, at MOP 6,311. At the end of December 2004, there were 7,104 vacant posts in the Gaming Industry, an increase of 44.2% over June 2004. By occupation, Hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, dealers, betting service operators, etc. offered 4,646 vacancies while “Services and sales workers” had 1,900 vacancies. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, about 10% of the overall vacant posts required “Professional experience”, around 70% of the vacant posts required Senior Secondary education or higher in “Academic achievement”. Besides “Cantonese”, other preferred language skills were “Mandarin” (87.7%) and “English” (62.6%).