HONG KONG 2004 - Employment

The Careers Advisory Service of the Labour Department, through the promotion of careers education, helps young people choose a career best suited to their talents, interests and abilities and also supports careers teachers with back-up information. The public can also have access to careers information published by the service through its website.

Throughout the year, the service arranged student group visits to its Careers Information Centres and various commercial and industrial establishments. Its Education and Careers Expo 2004 attracted 186 381 visitors and a total of 41 719 students took part in its Online Careers Quiz 2004.

The Finance Committee approved in June 2001 the allocation of $400 million for focused skills training for workers with secondary, or below, education. By December 31, 2004, the number of industry sectors brought under the Skills Upgrading Scheme has increased from six in 2001 to 22. These were: Printing, Chinese Catering, Retail, Import and Export Trade, Transportation, Wearing Apparel and Textile, Hotel, Tourism, Hairdressing, Property Management, Insurance, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Real Estate Agents, Building Maintenance and Decoration, Beauty Care, Passenger Transport, Elderly Care, Film, TV and Entertainment, Sports and Recreation, Floral Arts and Horticulture, Medical and Health Care, and Clocks, Watches and Jewellery. By year-end, 101 900 in-service workers from 4 948 classes have benefited from the training.

The Youth Pre-employment Training Programme was launched in 1999 to enhance the employability of school leavers aged 15 to 19 through a wide range of employment-related training, workplace attachment, careers counselling and support services. The fifth programme was concluded in August 2004, with over 11 300 trainees taking part.

The sixth programme, for 2004-05, is being delivered in two phases. The first phase, which commenced in August, attracted some 6 400 participants.

To enhance the employability of young people, the Government allocated $400 million to launch the Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme in July 2002. Administered by the Labour Department, it aims at providing on-the-job training of six to 12 months' duration for people aged 15 to 24, with an education attainment below degree level. The Labour Department canvasses training vacancies from various industries in the private sector as well as the public sector. In addition, special employment projects tailor-made for different trades and occupations are launched to provide diversified training opportunities for trainees under the scheme.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been commissioned to offer induction training and case management service to trainees. Case managers, who are registered social workers from NGOs, assist trainees to formulate career plans, identify suitable training vacancies, prepare for selection interviews, review their job search strategy, and adapt to the work environment after they are placed into employment.

The target of the scheme is to provide 10 000 training places by July 2004. This target was achieved in November 2003, eight months ahead of schedule. Given this success, the Government allocated another $300 million to extend the scheme for two years to place an additional 10 000 youths into jobs. By year-end, 18 283 trainees were successfully placed in training vacancies under the scheme. In addition, 10 925 trainees were placed in other jobs in the open employment market with the advice and assistance of their case managers.

Feedback from trainees, employers and NGOs on the scheme is highly favourable. Independent consultants from the Centre for Social Policy Studies of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University also confirmed the effectiveness of the scheme in enhancing the employability of young people in a mid-term review conducted in 2003.

The Youth Self-employment Support Scheme is a pilot project launched in May 2004 to train and assist people aged 18 to 24 with education attainment below degree level who are assessed to have the motivation to become self-employed.

Under the scheme, trainees are provided with training and a full range of support services and facilities for a full year from NGOs commissioned by the Labour Department. Altogether 36 projects providing about 1 500 training places in areas with business prospects have been approved under the scheme.

At the close of the application period on October 31, 2004, about 5 200 applications were received with around 1 500 applicants accepted into the scheme. By year-end, the trainees conducted 1 420 business transactions with gross profits of about $940,000 recorded.

The Employees Retraining Scheme (ERS) was launched in 1992 to provide retraining to eligible workers to assist them in taking on new or enhanced skills so that they can adjust to changes in the economic environment. It is administered by the Employees Retraining Board (ERB), a statutory body set up under the Employees Retraining Ordinance comprising representatives from employers, employees, persons related to vocational training and retraining or manpower planning as well as the Government. In addition to regular income from a levy collected under the labour importation schemes, the Government provided a recurrent subvention of $379 million in 2004-05.

The ERS focuses on assisting displaced workers who have experienced difficulties in seeking alternative employment. The main target group of the scheme is displaced workers aged 30 or over with no more than lower secondary education. The scheme offers a wide variety of full-time and part-time courses delivered through a network of more than 50 approved training bodies. The courses broadly fall into seven categories: courses on job search skills, job-specific skills, general skills (computer and vocational languages), courses for the elderly, courses for people with disabilities, tailor-made courses and self-employment courses. New courses with market potential and 'top up' modules are developed to equip retrainees with skills needed to enhance their employment opportunities and sustain their employability.

During the year, 57 400 full-time and 60 600 part-time retraining places were provided under the ERS. The two Retraining Resource Centres, in Jordan and Lok Fu, continued to provide self-learning facilities, job market information and other supporting services to all graduate retrainees. The objective is to reinforce the effectiveness of the ERS and foster the concept of lifelong learning.

The Integrated Scheme for Local Domestic Helpers (LDHs), an initiative launched in May 2002 to provide a one-stop service comprising job placement, referral and follow-up service for employers and graduate retrainees of domestic helper courses, has been running with success. To ensure the quality of training, the ERB set up in October 2002 a Practical Skills Training and Assessment Centre (PSTAC), which administered standardised skill assessments for retrainees of domestic helper courses in its initial operation. Those domestic helper retrainees who are able to pass the practical skill assessment will be issued a 'competency card' in recognition of their skills level achieved. Since November 2004, the PSTAC has extended its skills assessment to include retrainees of personal care worker courses. To further promote the service of LDHs and to address the mismatch in supply and demand in the LDH market, the Special Incentive Allowance Scheme for LDHs was introduced by the Labour Department in June 2003. A sum of $60 million was earmarked to provide an allowance to qualified LDHs who are willing to work in a district different from the one in which they reside or during 'unsocial hours' (i.e., 5 pm to 9 am). Some 8 000 LDHs are expected to benefit from the scheme. As at year-end, there were some 3 700 successful applications.