The hard labour of beating youth unemployment

Chan Kwok-chin sees little cause for optimism. At the age of just 18, he already feels society has let him down.

After missing out on university by failing his Diploma of Secondary Education exams and getting an earful from his parents, he took a job as a waiter, earning a "few hundred dollars" a week, to prove he wasn't a washout. That didn't last long.

Since being fired from the restaurant for "not knowing how to speak to customers properly", he has scrambled to earn a living by buying and selling comic book figurines online.

"I was born poor so there's not much I can do," he says.

Chan's story is a familiar one. According to the latest labour force statistics, Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent marks another quarter of full employment. But the much higher 9.4 per cent unemployment rate for Hongkongers aged 15 to 24 is a telling sign that there are serious structural issues that need addressing.

What makes the figure frustrating is the fact that many industries are short of skilled employees and offer plenty of opportunities - at least for those who are prepared to work hard.

Yeung Wai-yip is a prime example. Unlike Chan, he followed the traditional, academic route to success. After graduating from the University of Science and Technology with a degree in finance, he expected to walk into a stable job in the city's most lucrative industry.