Domestic employees in Macau reach a higher level

O number of domestic employees in Macau exceeded 29,200 at the end of September, the highest value since December 2020, according to official data released today.

According to data from the Public Security Police Corps, released by the Department of Labor Services (DSAL), the territory had 29,226 families with domestic employees, more 193 than at the end of June.

Macau peaked at 31,044 in April 2020 at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, but as the economic crisis and entry restrictions continued, it lost more than 8,000 domestic employees until February 2023.

Macau, which, like China, followed the ‘zero covid’ policy, reopened borders for all foreigners, including non-resident workers, from January 8, 2023, after almost three years of strict restrictions.

Since then, in less than four years, the number of domestic employees in the special Chinese administrative region has risen by almost 6,200, corresponding to an increase of 26.8%.

Domestic employees were again excluded from the minimum wage, whose value increased by 2.9% – 211.4 patacas (23.4 euros), to 7,280 patacas per month – in January.

This is due to the ‘single nature’ of domestic work and the need for the worker to ‘integrate’ into the family life of the employer’, said DSAL director Chan Un Tong in November.

Currently, for new domestic workers contracts signed from July 2024, the minimum remuneration fixed by DSAL is 3,200 patacas (EUR 354).

Chan said that the average salary for these contracts was around 3,800 patacas (EUR 420).

On October 2, the Government of Hong Kong's neighbouring Chinese region announced an increase of 2.35% in the minimum wage for domestic workers to $5,220 in Hong Kong (EUR 595) per month.

A week earlier, a group of domestic workers had organized a protest asking for a 21% increase in minimum wage, to 6,172 Hong Kong dollars (703 euros).

Hong Kong’s previous salary, 5,100 dollars, is “unbelievably low for a territory that proudly calls itself the ‘World City of Asia’,” said Asian Migrants Coordinating Body spokesperson Sringatin in a statement.

According to official data, the average salary in the territory is currently around $21,200 from Hong Kong (EUR 2,415).

Macau employed more than 184,500 migrant workers at the end of September, which represents an increase of almost 860 in the first nine months of the year.

The construction sector was the one with the highest rise until September, adding about two thousand non-resident employees, exceeding 27,700.

The public works plan in Macao for this year includes major projects such as the East Line of the Light Metro, which will reach the main border with mainland China, in the north of the Macao Peninsula.