Finding staff is a problem but the calibre of interviewees on recruitment day was encouraging
In a speech made earlier this year, chairman of the Macau Association of Banks Ye Yixin said human resources was one of the biggest challenges facing Macau's banking industry.
The talent shortage has forced China Construction Bank (Asia) to resort to new and creative measures to attract employees. The bank held an open recruitment day last month at its main branch in Macau, and the results were positive.
Vice-president and head of human resources Grace Lee Shuk-ha said more than 40 applicants attended the open day within four hours, and one-third of them were invited for a second interview. 'We advertised and let people know we were open for them to walk in and attend an interview on the spot,' Ms Lee said. 'The proportion of people that were qualified was pretty good for a small market like Macau.'
Ms Lee said the most difficult positions to fill would be frontline sales jobs, and intense competition for service staff meant it was extremely difficult to find 'the right kind of people'.
The bank has referral agencies in Zhuhai and Hong Kong with the aim of identifying talented people. Ms Lee said the recruitment day was a new idea for the banking sector in Macau. She said the aim was to try and tempt those people who were 'not quite ready to search for jobs'.