Nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics, administators
The Hospital Authority
To run Hong Kong's public hospitals, the Hospital Authority needs over 60,000 staff, of which seven to eight per cent need replacing every year because of turnover, retirement and the opening of new services.
'We are like a town and a community in a very real sense. You get to explore and discover it for yourself when you join,' says Dr Derrick Au, head of human resources at the Hospital Authority.
The authority hires in both clinical and non-clinical categories. Nursing positions have had a shortage of applicants worldwide, and Au says it has been an uphill battle to get the right numbers every year. A number of new nursing schools have opened recently, however, and with it taking four years to train a nurse, the situation should improve in the next couple of years.
'We are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel,' says Au.
Apart from the need for about 20,000 nurses, there is a large variety of other jobs available. Paramedics - called 'allied health professionals' in Hong Kong - such as therapists, medical social workers and dieticians total some 7,000 staff, a number the authority needs to keep steady.
More than 12,000 support staff work in wards, intensive care units, operating theatres and various other locations. There is also a variety of jobs on offer for administrative staff working in the authority's 38 hospitals.