https://www.scmp.com/rss/522849/feed The latest news and top stories on Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme. A prominent Hong Kong-based governmental scheme, the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) is dedicated to prioritising local workers in employment opportunities. It aims to regulate the import of foreign labour, ensuring local job seekers are considered first. The scheme, administered by the Labour Department, allows employers facing genuine recruitment difficulties to import workers at technician level or below,... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Lo Hoi-ying Lo Hoi-ying Hong Kong’s construction and catering sectors remain pessimistic about their recovery, despite a decline in unemployment rates, citing a lack of new private development projects and unattractive wages for junior positions in the food and beverage industry. Two industry representatives made the remarks on Thursday, after the government announced the latest unemployment figure of 3.8 per cent for the past three months, the first drop since mid-2023. The latest rate is 0.1 percentage points lower... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3333503/hong-kong-construction-catering-sectors-pessimistic-despite-dip-unemployment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3333503/hong-kong-construction-catering-sectors-pessimistic-despite-dip-unemployment?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Nov 2025 05:46:22 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Balancing labour supply and demand has been a challenge for Hong Kong as it scrambles to ensure it has the workforce needed to keep its economic growth on track, as well as advance local and national development goals. So, authorities and industry leaders must carefully examine the latest tally for the city’s import labour scheme. A timely review of labour needs must be done so the programme does its job, countering chronic shortages in a fast-changing global environment. The city has imported... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3330579/hong-kong-must-ensure-labour-import-scheme-does-its-job?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3330579/hong-kong-must-ensure-labour-import-scheme-does-its-job?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Oct 2025 22:45:08 +0000 Lo Hoi-ying Lo Hoi-ying Hong Kong has imported more than 37,000 workers since the government introduced a labour scheme two years ago, while a construction union has announced a wage freeze for most of the major trades in the industry. The Labour and Welfare Bureau on Wednesday revealed that it had received applications to import more than 62,000 workers in the catering and hospitality industries since the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme was launched in 2023. Between September 4, 2023, and September 30 this year,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3329943/37000-workers-imported-hong-kong-start-labour-scheme-2023?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3329943/37000-workers-imported-hong-kong-start-labour-scheme-2023?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:32:21 +0000 Jiang Chuqin Jiang Chuqin Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 3.9 per cent between July and September, with higher unemployment in social work and construction, authorities said on Monday. Preliminary data released by the Census and Statistics Department showed the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points over the preceding three-month period. This marks the highest rate since the three-month period between July and September 2022, when it was 4 per cent. Unemployment in the food and beverage sector remained... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3329678/hong-kongs-social-work-construction-sectors-hit-jobless-rate-rises-39?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3329678/hong-kongs-social-work-construction-sectors-hit-jobless-rate-rises-39?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Oct 2025 09:19:48 +0000 Ng Kang-chung Ng Kang-chung Hong Kong authorities have banned a restaurant from bringing in staff from outside the city for two years after finding it sacked local employees and used imported workers. On top of the ban, authorities will also cancel the in-principle approval previously granted to the restaurant, which specialises in banquets, to import staff. The restaurant has been hit with the heaviest penalty allowed under existing policy, according to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han. “We hope to send... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3323682/hong-kong-restaurant-hit-ban-firing-local-staff-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3323682/hong-kong-restaurant-hit-ban-firing-local-staff-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 11:13:20 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification I refer to your front-page report, “Catering, retail hit as jobless rate rises to 33-month high” (August 20), which mentioned the secretary for labour and welfare’s additional requirements that the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3323302/hong-kong-must-cook-labour-solution-revives-its-culinary-reputation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3323302/hong-kong-must-cook-labour-solution-revives-its-culinary-reputation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 03:30:29 +0000 Lo Hoi-ying Lo Hoi-ying Hong Kong authorities have identified another suspected case of an employer dismissing local workers and importing staff, after earlier this month sanctioning a firm that violated labour rules. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Saturday that findings would be announced as soon as an investigation into the case had been completed. “Our initial review shows significant evidence that the employer hired non-local labour but fired a local worker,” he said in a televised... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3322934/1-more-hong-kong-firm-suspected-have-fired-locals-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3322934/1-more-hong-kong-firm-suspected-have-fired-locals-after-importing-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:16:13 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial The rise in Hong Kong unemployment to the highest rate in 33 months is a reminder of the fine balance in the city’s labour market. The 0.2 percentage point rise in the jobless rate from May to July to 3.7 per cent, compared with April to June, is partly attributable to graduates entering the job market. However, it contrasts with 3.1 per cent economic growth in the second quarter, suggesting a relatively jobless recovery amid external economic uncertainty and the growth of artificial... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3322796/fix-mismatches-hong-kongs-labour-market-lift-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3322796/fix-mismatches-hong-kongs-labour-market-lift-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2025 23:15:07 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Worker importation schemes help balance the supply of labour with demand. Ideally, they should preserve job opportunities for local workers ahead of imported workers; otherwise, they risk defeating their purpose. Hong Kong’s Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme is an example. The Labour Department has banned a pest control and cleaning company from importing workers for a year after it was found to have failed to offer a job to a suitable local candidate before hiring an imported worker. The... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3321207/employers-must-abide-rules-hong-kongs-labour-import-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3321207/employers-must-abide-rules-hong-kongs-labour-import-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Aug 2025 22:45:07 +0000