A new database to help families find trained local domestic helpers could be in operation as early as May. The scheme forms part of a new drive by the Employees' Retraining Board to provide job opportunities for its trainees and tackle unemployment among women aged over 40. Under the plan, agencies for local domestic helpers will be set up at training centres across Hong Kong to provide one-stop employment, referral and follow-up service. The new database will be used to keep records of those who have completed domestic helper training courses with the board. It will contain information including pay and work demands as well as qualifications in various household skills such as cleaning, cooking and care of children and the elderly gained through tests taken following the completion of training courses. Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower Philip Chok Kin-fun said yesterday that the database will clear one of the hurdles that have hindered the employment of local domestic helpers. 'One of the main concerns of those families who have the potential to hire local domestic helpers but have decided against it is they are worried about what happens if the helper suddenly says she cannot turn up for work,' he said. 'With a centralised database in place, the employer can immediately call intermediary points which will use the system to search for a replacement local domestic helper with the same level of skills at short notice.' Connie Bragas-Regalado, spokeswoman for the Asian Migrants Co-ordinating Body, said she was confident the new scheme would not pose a threat to the livelihood of the 230,000 overseas domestic workers in Hong Kong. A government study in August found about 29,000 households in Hong Kong planned to hire local domestic helpers over the next 12 months. According to unions, there are only 20,000 such workers available at present.