Macau salary and hiring watch 2026 Q2: live job-listing pay landscape
Q2 issue: of 552 live listings, Macau F&B accounts for 225 (about 47% of Macau listings) and construction/technical 72. Advertised ranges show what employers are offering now; official data shows the industry baseline. Official Q2 figures (published 28 Aug 2026) are incorporated below.
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Three takeaways
Demand keeps concentrating in services: within 552 live listings (484 Macau, 68 Hong Kong, as of September 2026), F&B alone accounts for 225 and construction/technical 72. Advertised pay for entry service roles holds at MOP 9,000–13,000. Official Q1 data confirms the pattern: hotel average pay MOP 20,800 (+3.5% YoY), F&B 10,530, and F&B has the highest vacancy rate (5.1%) of the seven covered industries.
Live-listing pay landscape (as of Sep 2026)
Ranges are compiled from advertised roles on our listings and are negotiation references, not pay promises. The statutory minimum wage is MOP 35/hour (MOP 7,280/month, from 1 January 2026):
| Category | Live listings | Typical advertised pay (MOP) |
|---|---|---|
| Food & beverage | 225 | 9,000 – 18,000 (waitstaff 9,000–13,000; chefs 12,000–18,000) |
| Construction & technical | 72 | 15,000 – 25,000 (skilled trades) |
| Hotel, security, cleaning, retail and others | 187 | 9,000 – 16,000 |
← Swipe the table sideways to see all columns →
Benchmark: official 2026 Q1 data
As the comparison baseline, DSEC's 2026 Q1 figures (full write-up in our Q1 report) put the seven covered industries at 111,771 employed staff, hotels and F&B at 80.7% of that total, non-resident pay at 64.7% of local pay in hotels and 78.6% in F&B, with finance inverted (non-resident 39.3% above local).
Official 2026 Q2 data: published 28 August, summarised here
DSEC's Survey on Human Resource Needs and Pay for 2026 Q2 was published on 28 August 2026. Scope first: the survey covers five industries — wholesale & retail, gaming, transport/storage & communications, security services, and public sewage & waste treatment — and excludes self-employed and gaming promoters; employees cover both resident and non-resident workers. Because the industry scope differs from the Q1 labour survey, no direct quarter-on-quarter comparison is made here.
End-of-Q2 employed staff: wholesale & retail 65,803 (−1.6% YoY), gaming 52,992 (−0.3%), transport/storage & communications 16,436 (+11.4%), security services 13,590 (+2.9%), public sewage & waste treatment 909 (−2.3%). Security services posted the highest vacancy rate of the five at 6.3% — consistent with our live security-job demand.
- Average pay above is the June full-time mean excluding non-recurring pay, across all seniority levels; our listing ranges are mostly frontline roles — read the two tables as industry baseline vs current asking pay
- Security services' June average of MOP 13,680 aligns directionally with our advertised security range of MOP 9,000–16,000
| Industry (Q2 survey scope) | Employed staff, end of Q2 | YoY | Average pay, full-time, June (MOP) | Vacancy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale & retail | 65,803 | −1.6% | 14,860 | 2.9% |
| Gaming | 52,992 | −0.3% | 28,660 | 1.1% |
| Transport, storage & communications | 16,436 | +11.4% | 21,760 | 4.4% |
| Security services | 13,590 | +2.9% | 13,680 | 6.3% |
| Public sewage & waste treatment | 909 | −2.3% | 20,990 | 3.9% |
← Swipe the table sideways to see all columns →
FAQ
- Q: Why is this issue based on live listings rather than official data? A: Official quarterly statistics lag and measure historical averages; live listings show current demand and asking pay. The two are complementary. Official Q2 data (published 28 Aug 2026) is now incorporated in the table above; because its industry scope differs from Q1, no direct quarter-on-quarter comparison is drawn.
- Q: How often is this updated? A: Quarterly. This is the 2026 Q2 issue; from this issue the official benchmark uses DSEC's five-industry demand & pay survey scope (wholesale & retail, gaming, transport/storage & communications, security services, public sewage & waste treatment); the Q3 issue will add quarter-on-quarter sections only on a comparable basis.
Official basis：DSEC Survey on Human Resource Needs and Pay, 2026 Q2 (published 28 Aug 2026)｜Last verified: 2026-10-04
