Macau government encourages casino operators to raise wages
The Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) government is encouraging its six commercial casino operators to consider increasing employee wages as gaming activity continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A senior government official said this week that six casino concessionaires should consider increasing worker wages amid a sharp increase in gambling activity this year. Casino revenue may require a 2% to 3% salary increase for most employees, said Macau Economic and Finance Bureau Secretary Lee Wai Nong.
"We cannot order casino franchisees to adjust employee wages, but we recommend that they share the fruits of the economic recovery with their employees," Wray told reporters.
Macau's casino industry is controlled by Chinese subsidiaries Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts, as well as Hong Kong's largest gaming operators Galaxy Entertainment, SJM Resorts and Melco Crown Resorts.
Economic recovery
Lei Jun's office oversees one of the world's richest economies. Although Macau is only 45 square miles in size and has a population of less than 1 million, its pre-pandemic GDP in 2019 exceeded $55 billion.
The economy of the “Las Vegas of Asia” has been severely affected by the coronavirus and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “Zero Covid” response plan that runs until the end of 2022. But since the controversial policy was scrapped, Macau's most important economic sector - the gaming industry - has been severely affected. He began his long-awaited recovery.
October was Macau’s best gaming month since the start of the pandemic, with gross gaming revenue reaching 19.5 billion patacas ($2.43 billion). Over 10 months, GGR for 2023 totals $18.4 billion.
Gaming profits this year are 316% higher than in 2022, 106% better than in 2021, and 224% better than the profits of the six companies during the same period in 2020. However, the market still has some way to go before returning to 2019. Given the new state of the market, there are far fewer VIP junket groups bringing high rollers to town, if such returns are even possible. Then the level of the game will increase.
From January to October 2019, GGR exceeded $30 billion.
Government comments are very weighty
In Macau, these comments matter when government officials speak from the private sector. These six casinos will go to great lengths to win favor with local governments, which was especially evident at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These six casinos have retained most of their employees through the nearly three-year health crisis, despite low resort attendance. Lei's comments are expected to lead to higher worker wages in 2024, even though their gaming levels are only about 60% of 2019 business levels and rising administrative costs due to inflation are slowing the recovery.
However, casinos in Macau usually give their employees generous bonuses and annual salary adjustments.
Last year, all six companies awarded financial incentives to employees. Sands, Galaxy, Wynn, MGM and Melco are offering bonuses equal to one month's salary to employees. SJM paid employees 1.5 months’ salary.
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Source: www.casino.org
