In Macau, the government reportedly moved up the deadline by almost three years to require local residents to fill more than 85% of all casino management positions.
According to a report by Teleedifusao De Macao, a local television and radio broadcaster, the Community First Strategy was first announced in September as part of the city's five-year development plan and called for an 85% target to be met by 2020.
However, former Portuguese labor director Wong Chi-hong reportedly explained that the proportion of Macau residents working in mid- and high-end casinos increased from 81.9% in January 2016 to 84.8% by September, and that the government hopes to achieve the 85% goal "as far as local managers and CEOs are concerned" by the end of this year.
"We're introducing measures to temporarily control the employment of outside managers," Wong told Teledipusao in an interview with Teledipusao. "For example, there appear to be over 100 outsiders in the management of resort facilities, and we've already told gambling companies that we're not renewing those employment permits."
Wong also declared that the Bureau of Labor is working to revise the law to ban residents of mainland China from easily obtaining mid- to high-end casino jobs, which means they must first obtain a work permit after being offered a job. Teleleifusao De Macao explained that the move would complement a policy introduced in November that reduced the number of days non-residents have to leave the city to eight days after leaving their jobs.