The government is being urged to turn 3,000 temporary posts of welfare assistants into permanent jobs before funding for the programme runs out next year. The positions of welfare assistants, formally known as programme workers, were created in 2008 as a temporary measure to ease unemployment among the young, which was more than five times the overall jobless rate at the time. But the scheme for youngsters aged 15 to 29 - which costs HK$100 million a year - will end in March if the government sticks to its deadline. 'The temporary measure not only offers a relief to youth unemployment but also enhances the employment opportunity of youngsters as they all learn a lot from it,' said Charles Chan Kin-hung, chairman of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service's specialised committee on children and youth services. The council, an umbrella group for 320 non-government organisations, said welfare organisations did not see these programme workers as 'purely workers'. 'We see the employment as training for them. We want them to learn more via the jobs, that the monthly salary is not their only reward.' Chan said. With a monthly salary of HK$6,000 to HK$8,000, their main task is to help social workers in non-governmental welfare agencies to organise activities. A welfare-assistant worker will usually find a permanent job in various industries of the labour market after working at the temporary post for six months to one year. Improvement in interpersonal relationship skills, time management and how to deal with adversity were the fruits that many of these workers said they reaped from the temporary posts, Chan said. 'Many of them have no idea what they want to do before joining us, but then many come to know what their goals in lives are and what jobs they want to find later,' he added. One of these youngsters is Lam Wai-kin, 22. Having worked as a programme worker in YWCA for six months two years ago, he said he could not thank the scheme enough for the opportunities it gave him. 'Instead of giving out handouts and claiming that it wants to give wealth back to the people, the government should use the money to open more such temporary posts. What we should look at is the wealth in our hearts, not in our pockets.' Lam did not continue his study after completing Form Seven. He felt so lost that he worked as a salesman in the day and partied hard at night. Lam, who has been working as an ambulanceman since March last year, said the interpersonal skills he learned in the temporary job helped him a lot. 'It is vital not only for this job but also for all work,' he said. 'If you cannot get along with others well, how can you do a proper job?' $100m The annual cost, in Hong Kong dollars, of the government's temporary employment scheme for young people aged 15 to 29