Abstract—The ageing population in Macau has led to a growing demand for elderly care services. However, the lack of human resources in elderly care services has created an important social issue. Social enterprises have been used to tackle this issue in other places, but little is known about their role in Macau. Therefore, this research explores motivational factors that drive employees to work in social enterprises that provide elderly care services as a start to understand the dynamics in elderly care social enterprises. The study focuses on the only non-profit organisation in Macau that runs social enterprises providing elderly care services. The research used qualitative methods, conducting in-depth interviews with employees in the subject organisation’s three elderly care service social enterprises. The study found six factors that affect employee motivation in social enterprises providing elderly care services in Macau: involvement in decision-making, harmonious and supportive team relationships, interesting and challenging work, job security, appreciation, and helping people. The study recommends further research to explore employee motivation in different social enterprises in Macau and to develop surveys for quantitative research. Overall, this research provides insight into the motivations of social enterprise employees in elderly care services, of which there is a lack of research.