Macau government is set to tighten its visa policy for executive’s working in the territory’s casinos, in a bid to see more local employees promoted to management positions.

Speaking to the Portuguese-language Jornal Tribuna de Macau, The Human Resources Office of Macau confirmed that it can deny requests for renewals of non-resident casino executives’ working visas if “there are local workers that can fulfil the necessary conditions to perform managerial roles”.

The Jornal quoted the bureau as saying: “In assessing requests by the six casino operators – and bearing in mind that these have been in activity for several years – we consider these firms already present enough conditions to promote local workers.”

Brokerage firm Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd added weight to reports of tightening visa regulations, saying that “renewal applications for management level are becoming more difficult”.

According to the firm, Macau locals account for over 80% of all manager-and-above positions, as well as representing 96% of all casino-specific employees.

The state government of Macau does not permit migrant workers to take up positions as casino dealers.

Per Macau’s Statistics and Census service, 24.4% of the region’s employed population work in “recreational, cultural, gaming and other services”.