Gambling in Macau Is Hot—Maybe Too Hot

Investors are on edge despite packed casinos

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Bruce Einhorn

August 25, 2011 at 3:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

BusinessWeek Cover Image (11_36, portrait)

This article is part of the August 29, 2011 issue of businessweek.

Everything about the new Galaxy Macau casino and hotel is big. The $2 billion complex, which opened in May, has three hotels with a total of 2,200 rooms. The gaming floor is 39,000 square meters, with 600 tables and 1,500 slot machines. A rooftop beach features 350 tons of white sand and a 4,000-square-meter wave pool.

Running the Galaxy takes some 8,000 workers—and in a city of just half a million people that boasts a jobless rate below 3 percent, finding them is not easy. From accountants and IT professionals to housekeepers and croupiers, there aren’t enough qualified people to meet the needs of the city’s casinos, says Trevor Martin, Galaxy Entertainment Group’s senior vice-president for human resources. “We do the best we can in a tight market,” he says with a sigh.