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Annette Chiu

Almost half the applications for the Admission of Talent Scheme have been turned down since the programme was launched in December 1999.

A total of 582 applications for the scheme were received up to September 30 this year. Of these, 250 were rejected by the Immigration Department and only 177 - fewer than one-third - were approved to work in Hong Kong.

'We can't say the assessment is tight. It depends on the market demand and the need of the companies,' said Henry Siu Chung-kit, assistant director of visas and policies of the Immigration Department.

At the same time a separate programme - the Admission of Professionals Scheme - proved to be unpopular among members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), according to a survey conducted in July.

Among 132 ACCA members interviewed, more than half said they would not consider recruiting mainland professionals in information technology (IT) or finance as they said staff in these sectors could be sourced locally.

Executive member Aaron Au, also the co-chairman of the small and medium-sized enterprise sub-committee, said many employers were hesitant to hire professionals from the mainland because of cultural problems.

'They may face different levels of cultural shock and it adds a lot of workload to management,' Mr Au said.

The programme, which was launched in June this year, enables companies to hire mainland professionals to work in IT and finance sectors in the SAR. Unlike the talent scheme, which focuses on innovation and research for the medium or longer term, the professional scheme enables mainland professionals to fulfil a company's immediate operational needs.

According to the survey, 37 per cent interviewed would consider hiring mainland professionals to work in IT disciplines, compared with 30 per cent in finance positions.

They said the scheme provided an additional option to source quality staff.

Until September 30, one-third or 72 applications for the professional scheme were approved to work in Hong Kong. Of this number, 30 were rejected by the Immigration Department.

Among the successful applicants, more than two-thirds are working in the IT sector, earning an average of HK$35,000 a month.

Those who enrolled in the talent scheme, who have a good educational background and extraordinary abilities or achievements not readily available locally, are earning HK$40,000 a month on average.

Ten have a monthly salary ranging from HK$120,000 to HK$350,000.

One-third of the talent, or 67 applicants, work in the IT field, followed by engineering and environmental protection at 48. The rest work in sectors such as finance, biotechnology, legal and medicine.

Although some companies complained about the complicated paperwork and rigid policies involved in hiring people under the two schemes, Mr Siu said they were trying to exercise flexibility and discretion on individual cases.

'We encourage direct contact between the companies and the case officers of the department so as to quicken the procedure of assessment,' he said.

Graphic: surv22gbz



Talent scheme approval level at less than half as demands dictate usage