Results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages for the 4th Quarter 2007 Gaming Industry

The Statistics and Census Service released the results of the Survey on Manpower Needs and Wages of the Gaming Industry for the fourth quarter of 2007. Survey coverage excluded junket promoters and junket associates. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2007, there were 44,743 paid employees engaged in the Gaming Industry, up by 22.9% year-on-year. Analyzed by occupation, 30,486 were engaging 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., corresponding to a year-on-year growth of 34.5%; meanwhile, 5,341 were working as casino and slot machine attendants/hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc., down by 5.3% from a year earlier. In December 2007, average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees in the Gaming Industry rose by 6.6% year-on-year to MOP 14,899. Average earnings for employees in positions that are directly related to betting services stood at MOP 14,942, up by 2.0% over December 2006. The average earnings for services and sales workers, including casino and slot machine attendants/hosts, security and surveillance workers, etc., increased by 10.9% to MOP 8,958. At the end of December 2007, the Gaming Industry reported 3,411 vacant posts, a decrease of 2,220 from a year earlier. Of these vacancies, 1,685 were for hard and soft count clerks, cage cashiers, pit bosses, casino floorpersons, dealers, betting service operators, etc., while 994 vacancies were for services and sales workers. In terms of recruitment prerequisites, 62.7% of the vacancies required no working experience; 94.8% required junior secondary or higher education. Besides Cantonese, other preferred language skills were Mandarin (75.5%) and English (50.7%).