EditorialRising joblessness calls for a revival of the Hong Kong spirit
- To ride out the continued challenges, the city needs entrepreneurship, creative thinking and government support that provide short-term solutions and a forward-looking strategy to address the deficiencies in the job market
Joblessness has hit another high in Hong Kong and Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po is warning even worse times could lie ahead. The angst should not be ignored as the Covid-19 pandemic remains as threatening as ever.
Vaccination holds the key to rescuing the economy, but even after immunisation begins, it will be a year or more before a measure of normality returns.
To ride out the continued challenges, the city needs entrepreneurship, creative thinking and government support that provide short-term solutions and a forward-looking strategy to address the deficiencies in the job market.
05:09
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Unemployment has reached 6.6 per cent, the highest level in 16 years, amounting to more than 260,000 people being out of work. That is still some way from the record 8.5 per cent during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic in 2003, but circumstances are markedly different this time.
While Sars disappeared, that seems unlikely with Covid-19 even with the likely roll-out of vaccines from the middle of next month. The earlier disease was largely regional while the new coronavirus has a truly global impact that has shut down borders and travel, crushed economies and harmed companies and jobs.
The lowest-paid and most vulnerable are the worst affected. Highlighting the growing gap between rich and poor, the wealthiest have generally kept their jobs.
The retail and catering sectors are the hardest hit, but the government’s social-distancing measures, which have temporarily shut down particular economic sectors including gyms, beauty and massage parlours and entertainment venues, have created uncertainty for tens of thousands.