By Maria Micaela Lao Estorninho
As a university student, what’s bothering you? Have you ever thought of your future career? Nowadays, people tend to find a job that is not related to their major studies and incline to work in the mainstream careers.
Unlike majors with identifiable professions such as Law and Education, there are some majors which do not define a clear professional career in society. Stella Leong, a fresh graduate from the University of Macau (UM) with a sociology major, is now working as a clerk in accounting. “There is no specific profession for my major,” said Leong.
“It’s hard to get into the translation field,” responded Agnes Lao, a graduate from the Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM) majoring in Chinese-English Translation. She is now working as a clerk in an offshore company. Facing the difficult job market, graduates would search for jobs which can offer favored treatments from the mainstream industries. Lao said that the main task of her job does not require much knowledge related to translation. She somehow thought that she could not apply the knowledge she learned in the four years’ translation program. However, she is satisfied with the salary and welfare benefits with her current job.
Source: DSEC
Due to the rapid growth of the gaming and hotel industries in Macao, a massive number of manpower is in demand. According to the employment survey of November 2013 to January 2014 conducted by the Macau Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), recreational, cultural, gaming and other services have occupied 26.2% of the total employment and 14.7% are occupied by hotels, restaurants and similar businesses. Moreover, the survey on the manpower needs and wages on the gaming sector – second quarter 2013 from the DSEC shows that there was an increase of 2,820 full-time employees yearly with a total of 54,554 employees. Also, there were 24,031 dealers with an average income of MOP16,720.
Ken Chang, a graduate from the Macao University of Science and Technology (MUST), has the interest to work in the creative industry. However, he is planning to work in the casinos because he thinks that the creative industry does not have a favorable and stable income. Both Lao and Leong said that they have many friends who face the same situation as theirs. “Most of them have ended up working for the gaming industry,” Lao mentioned. “People jump on the bandwagon working for the same jobs,” added Leong.
Chang indicated that it is better off to work in the gaming industry due to the rapid growth as well as the heavy demand. Nevertheless, this phenomena narrows job opportunities for university graduates and makes other industries difficult to survive at the same time.