Hong Kong’s latest labour import scheme will undergo a half-year government review, a local advocacy group has said after demanding a quota for bringing in low-skilled workers in a meeting with authorities.
The Labour Department on Monday met representatives from the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) to discuss the impact of introducing an unlimited number of workers across 26 job types, including waiters, junior chefs, hospitality and sales staff in catering.
Employers are required to carry out a four-week recruitment drive in the city before their applications for foreign workers are considered by the Labour Advisory Board.
According to the advocacy group, local workers are concerned about job opportunities and the prospect of pay increases. Imported labour must receive a salary that is no less than the median monthly wage for the relevant job.
“Workers are worried that employers will prefer to pay less and import a worker instead of hiring one,” said Sze Lai-shan, deputy director of SoCO. “We object to the labour scheme being a permanent solution.”
Sze said the department had promised to consider the group’s demands, including establishing a quota for the number of workers, in a board meeting six months later where the scheme would be reviewed.
Hong Kong’s relaxed labour import scheme ‘may only benefit mid-to-large companies’
Hong Kong’s relaxed labour import scheme ‘may only benefit mid-to-large companies’
Authorities began accepting applications for the scheme from September 4.
A survey carried out by the group in August revealed nearly 75 per cent of 208 respondents from the lower-income group said running the scheme long term was “unreasonable”, with some revealing they were still unemployed and struggling to find work, Sze said.
About 84 per cent expressed concerns over fewer job opportunities, with some respondents saying they felt pressured to compete with new recruits.
No need for quota in expanded scheme to import workers: Hong Kong labour chief
No need for quota in expanded scheme to import workers: Hong Kong labour chief
Sze said the department had pledged to consider her suggestions seriously, including extending the local recruitment period to six weeks, as well as raising the medium wage by 10 per cent annually.
The programme in question seeks to hire low-skilled workers. Authorities earlier also introduced another labour scheme to import 20,000 skilled workers in the construction, aviation and transport sectors.
The latter has received about 7,000 applications from the three industries. Candidates will be issued a visa to enter the city by the end of this year.