Macao Casino Employees' Job Performance below Satisfactory Level

The job performance of casino employees, as evaluated by casino patrons, was above mediocre but "below satisfactory level", according to a research report released here on Tuesday by the Macao Association Economic Sciences.

Three service quality attributes, namely smiling to customers, greeting guests, and being helpful, are below average, said the report, entitled Macao Gaming Human Resources Issues and Solutions, which was based on two surveys respectively on casino customers and employees.

By far, Macao, a special administrative region (SAR) of China, has a total of 31 casinos, and among the six government-issued gaming licenses, or concessions as it is called here, three were owned or co-owned by gaming operators from the United States.

Since table game, directly provided to the customers by manpower, will continue to assume the dominant role in Macao's casino business, which notably differentiates Macao from Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and other major casino jurisdictions in the world, quantity and quality of human resources employed by the casinos become the two key factors determining customer loyalty and their desire to revisit, according to the report.

The study indicates that U.S. based casino firms have a clear advantage in terms of labor force quality, and the presence of U.S. casino firms in Macao may pose a threat to the local casino firms but is also a good opportunity for local casinos to improve themselves, said Ricardo C.S. Siu, a co-author of the report and a professor at the University of Macao.

Therefore, it is suggested in the report that local casino firms should not only pay attention to how to compete with foreign rivals, but also learn from their U.S. competitors in terms of how to treat their customers and employees.

As the pillar of local economy, the SAR gaming sector employs over 36,000 locals, and gaming tax contributes a lion's share of the SAR government's total tax income. Last year, local gaming sector, comprising casinos, horse and dog races, and various forms of lotteries, posted record revenues of 109.83 billion patacas (13.9 billion dollars), according to the statistics from the SAR's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

The authors of the report also urge the SAR government and the gaming industry to continue their efforts in training casino workers, given that the persistent labor training efforts will eventually pay off and they will help Macao not only improve casino labor quality, but also to soothe the pinch of labor shortage. 

Source: CRIEnglish