Melco Crown Entertainment has made a New Year promise to promote existing staff rather than hiring in from outside—provided current employees are willing to develop their skills.
MPEL’s decision may be driven as much by necessity as altruism. The Macau government has made it pretty clear that local employees should be the very last people on the redundancy list during an economic downturn. By letting go of skilled foreign workers first, the operators are in effect creating a skills gap that must be plugged quickly to avoid it having a negative effect on the bottom line.
MPEL says it is supporting programmes started by Macau University of Science & Technology and Macao Technology Committee. The ‘Fast Track Promotional Program’ says it aims to cultivate and develop local management talent.
From the beginning of January the institutions are running three-month study courses designed to equip participants with business skills and relevant technical knowledge, as well as leadership and management training. Employees who successfully complete the programme are guaranteed a promotion at Crown Macau, MPEL’s current Macau property, and City of Dreams, which is due to open in the first half of 2009.