Not enough engineers to go around

With a parade of infrastructure projects to come, some of the city's engineering companies are already reporting a 20 per cent shortage of staff, says the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.

Institution president Choy Kin-kuen said he had learnt this from recent visits to 50 engineering companies.

"This is very serious. In fact, the demand for talented people to join the engineering business has been growing for several years," he said, adding that the demand arose mostly from the government's plan to build more infrastructure and housing.

There was also a shortage of technicians. Choy said the lack of skilled people had not led to a serious delay in projects yet because the engineers were working harder.

To avoid delays in future, it was important that the government did not launch too many projects at one time, he said.

"I have talked to government officials, saying that it should not put forward too many projects in one go. It needs to be done gradually and sustainably. The government's response was positive."

In his policy address, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced several plans to tackle the housing shortage, including building 75,000 public rental flats in the next five years.