Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2023年6月 亞博匯 62 COLUMNISTS Once upon a time there were junket rooms, where we used to raise a glass or two. Remember how we laughed away the hours… V IP rooms were once the revenue driver for Macau casinos. People engaging in the junket business were well compensated and hailed as the “wunderkinds” of the gaming industry. With the collapse of the VIP junket model, gaming promoters have been knocked off their pedestals, leaving their employees high and dry. Résumés showing gaming promotion experience no longer look attractive. Junket employees were left standing when the music stopped in VIP rooms. Since late 2021, the city’s Labour Affairs Bureau has organized a series of job- matching sessions for those affected by the closure and layoffs in the junket sector. As in life, time heals all wounds. Some junket employees suffering from career setbacks have gradually re-entered the workforce. THE NEXT STEP A preliminary study on the career movement of former junket employees was recently conducted by a group of MBA students at the Macao Polytechnic University. The students talked to a dozen former junket employees in March and April about how they have coped with the career change. While some have been in-between jobs, others have taken up various hospitality positions in hotel, retail and gaming (table games, cage and marketing). In addition, some VIP room staff have left the industry and moved on to opportunities in other careers, such as insurance agent or taxi or bus driver. The following examines the highlights of their re- employment and the challenges faced by two former junket workers who have successfully reinvented their careers.