The Office for Livelihood Affairs of the Deepened Cooperation Zone activated the Provisional Measures to Support Employment for Young People from Macau on February 1. This strategy aims to encourage young people from Macau to work in Hengqin by supporting companies willing to hire them with a monthly subsidy of CNY 4,000. However, interest in the incentive has not met expectations.
Nick Ng, Executive Director of BoardWare Intelligence Technology, which has offices in Macau and Hengqin, told PLATAFORMA that “this policy has just been implemented, but its application and approval processes will not be that quick for now.” This is because people are still in the process of studying the methodologies and eligibility criteria. While many young people are interested in the subsidy policy, the actual number of applicants remains low.
Ng considers the monthly subsidy—MOP 4,380 per person—insufficient to compensate for the salary gap between Macau and mainland China. On the other hand, “Hengqin’s industrial positioning is, to some extent, complementary to Macau’s four new industries, but the level of business concentration is still in an early stage,” he said. While most companies in Hengqin are in high technology or research and development, offering relatively high salaries, there remains a gap compared to most job opportunities in Macau.
Another challenge for young people from Macau is the different competitive environment. “Many young people from the mainland are also coming to work in Hengqin,” Ng noted, adding that “at the start of their careers, they may have advantages over young people from Macau.” He suggests that young professionals from the SAR should change their mindset and invest in certification for more relevant professional skills to increase their competitiveness.
Additionally, Ng pointed out that young people from Macau face an adaptation period when they start working in Hengqin, particularly regarding transportation. More than a dozen of his colleagues commute regularly between Macau and Hengqin, and in the beginning, they struggled with adaptation issues. However, with improvements in transport links, especially with the light rail, this problem should gradually diminish.
Career Prospects Are Key
A young entrepreneur from Macau working in Hengqin believes that the development prospects of a given sector are crucial for young people deciding whether to work there. Hazel Huang, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) entrepreneur in Macau and CEO of Bay Valley Technology Research, has helped more than 60 TCM professionals secure jobs at Hengqin Hospital. Although she considers the subsidies a “positive” incentive, she believes the biggest obstacle is the “long-term outlook” that would justify relocating.
While the incentives open up more options for those interested in Hengqin, Huang emphasized that subsidies alone “cannot completely solve the long-term challenge of youth employment,” particularly in specific sectors. For example, in TCM, demand in Hengqin is limited, restricting professional development opportunities. “If Macau’s medical talents want to work in Hengqin, there are probably only two options: one is to be employed by the only Chinese medicine hospital; the other is to join a private clinic.” However, most private clinics are not even allowed to hire professionals from Macau.
For entrepreneurs looking to open private clinics in Hengqin, incentives are just one factor—they must also consider capital costs, rent, and labor. The current market scale for TCM in Hengqin “is not yet sufficient to sustain this business model,” Huang explained.
In this context, Huang believes that the main beneficiaries of the incentive policy are Macau-based companies that have already established branches in Hengqin. These companies have their own Macau employees and are better positioned to attract more workers from Macau. As for individual workers, Huang argues that the salary subsidy is not a decisive factor. The key factor, she says, is the future prospects of the sector offering employment: “If the industry in question does not have great potential in Hengqin,” young people from Macau will not see it as a viable development opportunity.
Huang noted that industries such as new media and technology have greater potential in Hengqin, attracting more interest from Macau’s young professionals. However, when it comes to TCM, market size and demand remain limited, making young people from Macau hesitant about considering jobs in Hengqin.
