More quarantine hotel rooms needed for arriving domestic workers as manpower shortage could weaken Hong Kong’s economic recovery, labour chief says

Some residents could be forced to quit jobs to provide care for family members that helpers usually handled, Law Chi-kwong says

Number of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong has dropped from about 400,000 to 350,000 during pandemic, he notes

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More that 4,000 foreign domestic helpers are waiting to come to Hong Kong, according to Cheung Kit-man, chairman of the Hong Kong Employment Agencies Association. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 7:25pm, 2 Jan 2022Updated: 7:34am, 3 Jan 2022

Hong Kong should provide more hotel rooms for arriving domestic helpers to serve out their quarantine, the labour chief has said, warning the current manpower shortage could weaken the city’s economic recovery.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong on Sunday also revealed that the number of foreign domestic helpers had dropped from more than 400,000 two years ago to about 350,000 amid the Covid-19 pandemic – a decline which he said would have a wider effect on the city.

“The impact will not be limited to the relevant families or those people who required caretaking from domestic helpers,” Law wrote on his official blog.

“As some members will have to quit their jobs to take care of their families, the labour market and many industries in Hong Kong are set to be affected. If the situation continues, it may affect the city’s overall economic recovery.”

The government-run quarantine facility at Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island. Photo: Bloomberg

While no regulations limit the number of domestic workers entering the city, only three quarantine hotels have been designated to handle arriving helpers, creating an effective cap and leading to bidding wars for their services in some instances.

With the Omicron variant spreading and more arrivals from various countries required to serve an initial four days of quarantine at the government’s Penny’s Bay facility on Lantau Island, the 1,000 slots originally designated for domestic helpers there will no longer be reserved for them from this month.