Hong Kong 2006 - Employment

The Labour Department provides a full range of free employment and recruitment services to job-seekers and employers through a network of 12 district-based Job Centres, a Telephone Employment Service Centre, a Central Recruitment Unit and a Job Vacancy Processing Centre. Job-seekers can make use of facilities such as vacancy search terminals, telephones, fax machines and computers with Internet connection in the Job Centres. A new job centre has been set up each in Yuen Long and the North District during the year to strengthen employment services for job-seekers residing in the remote areas. Employment services are also provided on the Internet round-the-clock through the Interactive Employment Services (iES) website (www.jobs.gov.hk), which is the Government's most popular website. The website recorded over 947 million page views in 2006, representing an average page view of 2.6 million per day. The department also organises special recruitment activities such as large-scale and district-based job fairs to help job-seekers find jobs and employers recruit staff.

During the year, 205 648 job-seekers registered with the Labour Department. An all-time high of 479 942 private sector vacancies were received, or 12.7 per cent more than 425 952 recorded in 2005. The department also achieved a historic high job placement figure of 118 937 in 2006, or 5 per cent more than the 113 090 in 2005.

The Employment Programme for the Middle-aged was launched in May 2003 to assist unemployed job-seekers aged 40 or above to secure employment. Employers who engage middle-aged people and give them on-the-job training receive a training allowance of $1,500 per month per trainee for up to three months. At year-end, a total of 27 774 job-seekers had been employed under the programme.

The Work Trial Scheme was launched in June 2005 to enhance the employability of job-seekers who have special difficulties in finding jobs. There is no age limit for such applicants. On completion of the one-month trial, each participant gets $4,500 from the Labour Department plus $500 from the organisation for which he or she has worked. By the end of 2006, 1 127 job-seekers had been placed in work trials.

The Selective Placement Division of the Labour Department helps people with disabilities integrate into the community through open employment. It provides free employment counselling and placement services for the hearing impaired, visually impaired, physically handicapped, chronically ill, mentally handicapped and ex-mentally ill. In 2006, the division launched a series of activities to promote the employment of people with disabilities. It registered 3 695 job-seekers with disabilities and found jobs for 2 493 of them, representing an all-time high placement rate of 67.5 per cent.

Since April 2005, the Labour Department has been implementing the Work Orientation and Placement Scheme to enhance the employability of people with disabilities. The scheme offers pre-employment training to job-seekers with disabilities. A monthly allowance, equivalent to a half-month's pay for each disabled employee engaged (subject to a ceiling of $3,000) is also given to the participating employer for up to three months. At year-end, 606 people had participated in the pre-employment training programme and 565 found work placements.

The Employment Agencies Administration of the Labour Department enforces Part XII of the Employment Ordinance and the Employment Agency Regulations. It monitors the operation of employment agencies through licensing, inspection and investigation of complaints. In 2006, it issued 1 702 employment agency licences and revoked one.