Hong Kong commerce chamber makes urgent plea for foreign workers
General Chamber of Commerce says tens of thousands of vacancies can't be filled by locals, but critics see a ploy to bring in cheap labour
One of Hong Kong's most influential business groups is working on a proposal calling on the government to allow an influx of foreign workers - warning that it is the only way to solve the city's labour shortage.
The General Chamber of Commerce says tens of thousands of vacancies across a variety of industries cannot be filled by the local workforce.
Right now there is a big discrepancy between job vacancies and the labour force. If this situation remains unsettled, it will only result in long working hours and poor service quality
"Right now there is a big discrepancy between job vacancies and the labour force," chamber chief executive Shirley Yuen said yesterday. "If this situation remains unsettled, it will only result in long working hours and poor service quality."
Yuen said that last month there were up to 110,000 unfilled vacancies, close to the historic high of 122,000 in 1989.
Among them, import-export, the wholesale and retail trades and the community, social and personal services industries had consistently suffered shortages of more than 10,000 in the past three years, she said.
The hotel and catering trades had experienced a similar problem in the past 15 months.
The chamber estimated the potential labour force at 780,000 - that is, who could be working but are not such as housewives, early retirees and students in continuing education.