Macau Resident Gaming Employment Drops to Lowest Level Since 2013
The number of Macau residents employed in the city’s gaming sector fell by 3,800, or 5.8 percent, between the first and third quarters of 2026. The third-quarter tally was the lowest since the first quarter of 2013. The decline came after the satellite casino model was phased out at the end of 2025.
SCCG Take — The contraction signals lasting effects from the satellite casino exit on local labor supply. Concessionaires will calibrate staffing models against tighter resident availability and higher prior-gaming unemployment.
The number of Macau residents employed in the gaming sector fell by 3,800, or 5.8 percent, between the first and third quarters of 2026. The third-quarter total reached 62,100. That is the lowest figure since the Statistics and Census Service began its quarterly employment series in the first quarter of 2013.
The counts moved from 65,900 in the first quarter to 63,200 in the second quarter and 62,100 in the three months to September 30. The latest reading was 1.7 percent lower than the prior quarter and 3.4 percent below the 64,300 from the same period a year earlier. Gaming accounted for 21.7 percent of the city's 285,600 employed residents in the third quarter, down from 23.0 percent in the first quarter.
Decline Tied to Satellite Casino Phase-Out
The reduction followed the end of Macau's satellite casino model at the close of 2025. Government statements from June 2025 placed roughly 5,600 local employees at those venues, with 4,800 working for gaming concessionaires and 800 hired directly by the satellite operators. The latest survey does not specify how many of those staff left the gaming sector.
Median monthly earnings for residents in gaming held at MOP22,000 (US$2,723) in the third quarter. That matched the second-quarter level but was below the MOP25,000 recorded in the first three months of 2026.
Rising Unemployment Share Among Former Gaming Workers
The share of unemployed residents seeking new positions who had previously worked in gaming rose from 13.3 percent in the first quarter to 14.4 percent in the second and 19.5 percent in the third. Across all industries the main reasons cited for unemployment were personal or family reasons at 33.5 percent, the end of a temporary job or contract at 20.1 percent, and dismissal or layoff at 16.5 percent.
These employment shifts, as detailed by GGRAsia, reflect the post-2025 adjustment in Macau's gaming labor market. Operators face a smaller pool of local residents tied to the sector while the proportion of job seekers with gaming backgrounds increases.
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