‘Talent list’ coming to lure foreign workers to Hong Kong
Details being finalised as city races to find labour answers amid rapidly ageing population and for economic competitiveness
Hong Kong will issue a “talent list” by the middle of the year to attract foreign labour and ease the city’s manpower shortage amid a rapidly ageing population, the finance chief said on Wednesday.
Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, of the University of Hong Kong’s department of social work and social administration, hoped the list would enumerate labour shortages in each sector and help the public understand that bringing in outsiders is paramount.
Yip said several industries had been experiencing a severe manpower shortage and that the health-care, elderly care and construction sectors would benefit from the move.
But he expressed concern that local professional bodies and trades, such as the medical sector and labour unions, would be reluctant and hinder the recruitment of overseas talent.
Manpower and talent shortages ... have impeded Hong Kong’s economic development and competitiveness
On Wednesday, Chan said the city’s 3 per cent unemployment rate indicated a tight labour market and that the workforce would shrink over the next few years as the elderly population rapidly rises.