‘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.
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.
“Manpower and talent shortages in the workforce have impeded Hong Kong’s economic development and competitiveness.
“On the premise that local workers’ priority for employment will be safeguarded, we should consider increasing imported labour in a timely manner and on an appropriate scale to address the specific needs of individual sectors.”
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The financial secretary stressed the government needed to invest heavily in nurturing talent, calling it crucial for economic development and social progress. Officials would invest in education, training and retraining to enhance the quality and competitiveness of the city’s workforce.
But Yip said efforts would be hurt by Hong Kong’s declining quality of life and unaffordable housing compared with Singapore and Australia.
“Professional bodies should consider being more receptive to foreign workers as these people would eventually help ease their workload,” Yip said.
It has been 17 years since then-financial secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen revived in 2001 a modified form of the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme, first implemented in 1994, in response to a shortage of highly skilled IT and financial service workers in Hong Kong.