Opinion | John Lee’s will to tackle Hong Kong’s labour crunch is commendable, but the haste is not

Any decision to import labour isn’t just a matter to announce to the media ahead of Executive Council meetings

Such decisions have far-reaching and irreversible consequences, and the government must take time and care to communicate with the public

Reading Time:3 minutes

A construction worker is seen in Yau Tong on June 13. The manpower shortage in the construction industry is a long-standing problem that no government has been able to tackle successfully. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:15am, 10 Apr 2023

It takes guts to announce, less than a month before Labour Day, that unless local recruitment eases Hong Kong’s manpower crunch, it will be “necessary” to import labour. Yet Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu did just that.

Maybe it’s the jolt of confidence he received recently; first, from President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress first plenary session in Beijing last month. As it turned out, Xi wasn’t the only one who singled Lee out from a sea of suits to greet him.

New Premier Li Qiang also sought out Lee with a power handshake at the Boao Forum in Hainan. To have the faith of the country’s two most powerful men shows Lee is moving onwards, with a spring in his step and fresh boldness.

Receiving such affirmation is a tremendous confidence booster and must add to the job satisfaction. But any decision to import labour isn’t just a matter to announce to the media ahead of Executive Council meetings. Are we now leading this city by handing down decrees?

The government is hell-bent on bouncing back after closing the borders for almost three years. The surge in demand for workers and difficulties in filling vacancies to handle, say, tour groups from the mainland, are holding the city back from the mad dash to normality and its ability to move forward.

But labour issues have always been one of the toughest nuts to crack. The move towards policies to import labour cannot be going down well with the labour unions, however, given the far-reaching and permanent consequences for the local workforce.

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