Casino positions most sought after amongst jobseekers in 2H, 2014

A sales assistant is the position that has the largest gap between employers’ offer and job seekers’ expectations, while casino workers have the narrowest gap and have been the most sought after position, the latest employment service data released by the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) shows. A total of 2,973 jobseekers have approached the Labour Affairs Bureau to land a new job during the second half of last year, with the most sought after positions those of casino workers, clerks, security workers, sales assistants and cleaners. Of these five types of position, the sales assistant position shows the greatest salary gap (at MOP2,646 or US$338) between employers’ offer and employees’ demand: the jobseekers would like to earn an average monthly salary at MOP10,022 as sales assistants, while employers only offered MOP7,376. Casino workers have the narrowest gap (at MOP1,206) between employers’ offer and employees’ expectations: jobseekers would like to earn an average monthly salary of MOP15,138 as casino workers, while employers were offering MOP13,932 for the position. The most employed positions in the second half of last year were those of cleaners, waiters/waitresses, entry-level construction workers, sales assistants and chefs. The recruited cleaners were at the bottom of the wage ladder where they were employed at a monthly average of MOP6,511; by contrast, entry-level construction workers were offered the highest salary level of the five positions at a monthly average of MOP12,153. Some 47 per cent of the nearly 3,000 jobseekers were aged 45-59; while another 31 per cent were aged 25-44. More than half of these jobseekers had graduated from secondary school. By the end of last year, the Bureau reported that 1,774 jobseekers were still in need of a recruitment match. S.L.