Image, status, high pay - key to attracting construction management talent

Despite offering high salaries and good career prospects, the local construction industry still has a hard time finding skilled workers and senior executives for management roles. Some have warned the talent shortage could damage the industry's growth prospects and the city's overall competitiveness.

It is an issue Hong Kong Construction Industry Council chairman Lee Shing-see, an industry veteran with 50 years of experience, is keen to resolve. Under his leadership, the council recently commissioned a study on how to improve the construction industry. A report recommending the way forward is expected soon.

The council was set up by the government in 2007 with the aim of upgrading training and ethics in the local construction industry. Among the long list of areas to tackle was work safety, unpaid salaries, low productivity and the difficulty in attracting young, educated talent to the industry.

Many youngsters prefer to work in fashion shops or restaurants instead of toiling on a construction site. That is despite the fact skilled construction workers can earn roughly HK$1,000 to HK$1,800 a day, almost double the amount earned by some junior office workers or shop assistants. The same shortage is seen at the senior level, with project managers offering good packages still finding it hard to recruit the right talent.

Lee, 73, is proud of his long involvement in the construction industry, which he views as a backbone of the local economy. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong with a degree in civil engineering in 1964, he joined the government as an apprentice engineer on a monthly salary of HK$800.

He worked for the government for 38 years, progressing from engineer and project manager all the way up to secretary for works and retired as permanent secretary for works in 2002. During that time he has involved in the planning of many new towns, the HK$120 billion airport at Chek Lap Kok and related infrastructure projects.