The government of Macau is reportedly set to introduce new measures early next year designed to reduce the prevalence of foreign workers being hired to fill middle and senior management roles within the city’s many casinos.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the revelation came from Fernando Chui Sai On, Chief Executive for Macau, on Wednesday during a question-and-answer session with members of the former Portuguese enclave’s Legislative Assembly.

Chui reportedly stated that the government will now ‘strictly assess’ any application to import an employee from abroad based on the prevailing economic conditions and encourage larger enterprises such as casino operators to begin hiring a greater number of local workers.

GGRAsia explained that approximately 82% of middle and senior management roles within the Macau casino industry were occupied by native workers in 2014 but that the government is hoping its new policy will see this ratio increase to at least 85% by the end of 2020.

In addition, Chui reportedly declared that his administration now intends to completely review the ratio of local to foreign workers at the time any casino completes or opens a second phase of development while moreover asking operators to provide better training opportunities to their Macanese employees so that these may better climb the corporate ladder.

GGRAsia furthermore reported that Chui reiterated his belief that foreign workers should only be utilized if there is a shortage of local talent and that he would now endeavor to improve the mechanism by which native members of staff are promoted when non-native employees exit the Macau labor market following the expiration of their contracts.

Finally, Chiu reportedly proclaimed that his administration will begin asking casino operators to specifically delineate how long they expect particular middle and senior management positions to continue being occupied by foreign employees while working to reduce the importation and application renewals of non-native workers.