Results of the Manpower Needs and Wages Survey for the 4th Quarter 2006 Gaming Industry

The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the Manpower Needs and Wages Survey of the Gaming Industry for the fourth quarter of 2006, which excluded junket promoters and junket associates. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2006, there were 36,412 paid employees engaged in the Gaming Industry, an increase of 39.4% compared with the same period of 2005. Analyzed by occupation, 22,669 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., while 6,683 were engaged as services and sales workers, including casino and slot machine attendants/hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc., up 49.0% and 24.2% respectively over the same period of 2005. In December 2006, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees rose by 24.0% year-on-year to MOP 13,978. Average earnings for the positions that are directly related to betting services was MOP 14,643, up by 26.2% over December 2005. The average earnings of services and sales workers also increased by 21.1% to MOP 8,076. At the end of December 2006, the Gaming Industry reported 5,631 vacant posts, of which 3,861 were related to hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, dealers, betting service operators, etc., while there were 1,008 vacancies for services and sales workers. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 25.4% of the vacant posts required working experience; 81.1% required senior secondary or higher education. Besides Cantonese, other preferred language skills were Mandarin (83.5%) and English (47.4%).