Despite the economic downturn that has seen thousands in Macau lose their jobs, employers are still struggling with the city's chronic labour shortage, according to City of Dreams senior vice-president of operations Michael French. City of Dreams is the only major property which opened in Macau this year and developer Melco Crown Entertainment is fully staffed notwithstanding regular turnover. Mr French said despite lay-offs at many casinos, cuts to Macau's foreign-worker quotas meant the labour shortage problem was still a major hurdle. 'The economic downturn has made it more difficult to hire staff in that foreign quotas have been significantly reduced to ensure Macanese have first opportunity,' Mr French said. 'Therefore many Macau people are still employed because any job cuts at casino resorts have been in the reduction of foreign labour.' City of Dreams, a US$2.1billion integrated urban entertainment resort on the Cotai Strip, employs about 7,000. According to the Macau Statistics and Census Service, there were only 258 vacancies in the gaming industry as of December last year, unlike a few years ago when there were thousands of job vacancies. The figure represents a drop of 92.4 per cent compared with statistics from December 2007 and 66.2 per cent compared with June last year. Mr French said it was increasingly difficult to recruit unskilled or 'entry level' jobs in Macau. He said the approved quota to hire Hong Kong candidates had also been lowered. 'Although it is lower than it might have been in the past, the government has been helpful in allowing some opportunity for Hong Kong candidates,' he said. 'These are more specialised areas that are difficult to fill locally, such as information technology and hotel management positions coming from Hong Kong.' The majority of staff employed at City of Dreams receive a two-month training programme, which includes a week of 'live simulation'. An off-site training centre equipped with 110 gaming tables is used for casino staff and a Hong Kong-based theatrical arts training group has also been employed to work with employees. 'We have developed detailed step-by-step training procedures for our new staff and these procedures will be taught in conjunction with our special 'Dream Service' hospitality skills training,' Mr French said. 'Each casino staff member will attend at least three sessions of about six hours each of entertainment and performance arts techniques taught by successful actors from the Hong Kong community.' City of Dreams has also established a Macau-based training academy and corporate management programmes to foster staff development. Staff will have access to 'Heart of House' state-of-the-art back-of-house dinning facilities, internet cafes as well as rest and relaxation areas.