Casino operators and building contractors in Macau may need to re-think their policy on redundancy payments if any more casino projects get mothballed.
This could mean driving any laid off Hong Kong building workers straight to the ferry terminals and handing out their goodbye cheques at the last moment as they approach the immigration hall.
The reason? The South China Morning Post reports some of the laid off Hong Kong brickies have been going straight from their construction sites to casinos and blowing their payout in 24-hour gambling sessions.
Dr Li Cheuk of the Zion Social Service centre, a Macau organisation that helps compulsive gamblers kick the habit, says the centre has seen a spike in people coming for help, including four who had recently been rendered jobless.
Newly unemployed workers may be more likely than other people to focus on gambling to escape financial or domestic responsibilities, says Dr Li.
The risks are magnified when they have several weeks’ pay at their fingertips, adds the good doctor.
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