Hong Kong construction sector seeks to import 3,910 workers under labour scheme to offset shortfall
- Number of construction workers accounts for nearly one-third of 12,000 spaces available under city’s scheme to tackle labour shortage
- Development Bureau says applications to be processed sequentially, with vetting procedures expected to wrap up by end of September
Hong Kong’s construction sector has asked to bring in nearly 4,000 workers under the city’s scheme to import labour, accounting for nearly a third of the industry’s quota.
The requests were contained in 11 applications filed to the Development Bureau hours before the deadline on Wednesday midnight.
“The Development Bureau will process the applications sequentially, and the vetting process is expected to be complete by the end of September,” it said. “The first batch of imported labour could arrive by the fourth quarter of this year.”
Applications for the first round started on July 17.
Hong Kong introduced the labour import scheme in June to bring in 20,000 workers after the number of low-skilled employees in the city fell by 160,000 between 2018 and 2022.
The scheme allows the construction sector to import up to 12,000 labourers, while the aviation and transport industries can bring in 6,300 and 1,700 workers, respectively.