{"id":267936,"date":"2023-04-06T14:44:38","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T19:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=267936"},"modified":"2023-04-07T15:07:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T20:07:03","slug":"macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/","title":{"rendered":"Macau Labor Shortage Could Dampen Gaming Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

To this point in 2023, the biggest story in the gaming industry is Macau\u2019s resurgence — one that could be slowed by a shallow labor pool.<\/p>\n

\"Macau
MGM Cotai employees at a baccarat table. A labor shortage in Macau could halt the gaming recovery. (Image: Reuters<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following three years of temporary shutdowns and scant business, the special administrative region (SAR) reopened in full force this year as China relented on some of the world\u2019s harshest coronavirus restrictions. The enclave\u2019s gaming industry, dependent on tourists, is again booming.<\/a> But there aren\u2019t enough workers available to allow operators to bring full guest room supply to market.<\/p>\n

\n

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg<\/em> reported late Tuesday that some five-star hotels in Macau only market half or less of their rooms, while others don\u2019t provide daily housekeeping services because of a lack of available employees. The article didn\u2019t mention specific venues affected by the labor shortages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Macau\u2019s six concessionaires<\/a> are Galaxy Entertainment, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, MGM China, Sands China, SJM Holdings, and Wynn Macau. All those companies operate at least one casino hotel with a five-star rating from various travel and leisure reviewers.<\/p>\n

Some Operators Can Deal with Macau Labor Shortage<\/h2>\n

While the effects of Macau\u2019s shallow labor pool are widespread, the impact isn\u2019t linear across all six gaming operators.<\/p>\n

Some analysts believe Sands China<\/a> and Wynn Macau will be able to wrest market share from rivals because those operators didn\u2019t commit to mass layoffs during the early stages of the pandemic. Those two companies combine to run seven of Macau’s integrated resorts, including several with five-star designations.<\/p>\n

Another issue facing concessionaires is locals\u2019 job preferences. Macau residents working in the gaming industry are eager to fill roles such as dealers and pit bosses or back-office roles. Conversely, they eschew lower-level roles, such as housekeeping and restaurant work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That makes operators dependent on workers from mainland China and Southeast Asia to fill those jobs. But 44K nonlocal employees were let go since the start of the pandemic, according to Bloomberg<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Other Issues Compounding Labor Shortage<\/h2>\n

Other issues are worsening the Macau labor shortage. Gaming companies must contend with a slow approval process for non-China residents to the SAR to work in casino hotels.<\/p>\n

\n

Additionally, many of the workers from mainland China and Southeast Asia who filled customer-facing roles before the pandemic have moved on to other industries in China or worked at gaming venues in Singapore<\/a> and Vietnam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

By not being able to market a larger supply of rooms, operators are upping prices for the rooms they can sell. But that\u2019s not sitting well with consumers. Some would-be visitors to Macau are complaining about room rates. Others who make the trip believe they aren\u2019t getting good value because they\u2019re paying for upscale accommodations while getting a lower level of service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To this point in 2023, the biggest story in the gaming industry is Macau\u2019s resurgence — one that could be slowed by a shallow labor pool. Following three years of temporary shutdowns and scant business, the special administrative region (SAR) reopened in full force this year as China relented on some of the world\u2019s harshest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":231442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,81881,81883],"tags":[81913,81007,82205],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMacau Labor Shortage Could Slow Gaming Rebound<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Macau Labor Shortage seen weighing on region's 2023 casino rebound.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macau Labor Shortage Could Slow Gaming Rebound\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Macau Labor Shortage seen weighing on region's 2023 casino rebound.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-06T19:44:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-07T20:07:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/M33W3XVZFVJODHM3DEVBH4R2E4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/\",\"name\":\"Macau Labor Shortage Could Slow Gaming Rebound\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/M33W3XVZFVJODHM3DEVBH4R2E4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-06T19:44:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-07T20:07:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Macau Labor Shortage seen weighing on region's 2023 casino rebound.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-labor-shortage-could-slow-gaming-rebound\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/M33W3XVZFVJODHM3DEVBH4R2E4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/M33W3XVZFVJODHM3DEVBH4R2E4.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"MGM Cotai employees at a baccarat table. 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