Create jobs and grasp opportunities
Put Hong Kong on right track
28 March 2021
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CS visited the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme Job Expo (March 24, 2021) |
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The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought unprecedented impact on the global and local economies. Despite an upturn in the external trading environment driven by the rapid economic recovery on the Mainland, and that certain segments of Hong Kong’s economy have benefitted from a buoyant financial market, many consumer-facing sectors are still operating in a difficult environment.
The labour market remained under pressure in December 2020 - February 2021. However, the situation tended to stabilise in the latter part of the three-month period alongside improvement in the epidemic situation. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.2%, the highest since 2004. Notably, youth unemployment, i.e. unemployment rate of persons aged between 15 and 24, reached 15.6% with the number of unemployed youths standing at 35 500. Among them, around 10 400 were fresh graduates. Being fresh from school and therefore lacking work experience and having rather junior qualifications, it was more difficult for them to find jobs during the economic downturn.
As long as the epidemic situation in Hong Kong is brought under control, economic activities will likely regain momentum. With the launch of the Vaccination Programme and the support and co-operation of the general public, the threat of the epidemic may gradually recede and this will help ease the pressure on the labour market.
Job creation and employment support
To relieve the unemployment situation caused by the epidemic, the Government has earmarked $6.6 billion under the Anti-epidemic Fund to create about 30 000 time-limited jobs in the public and private sectors within two years for people of different skill sets and academic qualifications. So far, about 10 000 of the jobs created under the Job Creation Scheme are for fresh graduates and young people. Apart from young people, the scheme also caters for the need of the grassroots, with over 40% of the jobs pitched at relatively junior levels.
As at the end of February 2021, the number of jobs created stood at around 31 000, including about 15 800 jobs in the Government and about 15 600 jobs in the non-governmental sector. Over 18 000 of these jobs have already been filled. For the remaining 13 000 jobs, recruitment is underway or will commence soon.
In view of the lingering epidemic and the worsening unemployment situation, the Government has announced in the 2021-22 Budget to further earmark $6.6 billion to create about 30 000 time-limited jobs. We will actively pursue the matter.
Join the Government to serve the community
Meanwhile, the Government has taken a multi-pronged approach to attract young people who are ambitious, aspiring and enthusiastic in serving the community to join the Government. A career in the civil service remains an attractive option for young people and fresh graduates. As the largest employer in Hong Kong, the Government makes continuous efforts to recruit new blood to the civil service to fill vacancies arising from wastage and new service needs. From 2017-18 to 2019-20, a total of over 34 000 new recruits joined the service, of whom over 60% were aged 30 or below. Young job seekers may consider pursuing a career in the civilian grades with different career foci or the disciplined services grades in the six disciplined services departments.
In the 2020-21 financial year, there are over 10 000 civil service job openings. These openings span across about 60 bureaux/departments, covering both civilian and disciplined services grades.
"Love Upgrading Special Scheme"
On training, the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) launched the first and second tranches of the “Love Upgrading Special Scheme” (the Special Scheme) in October 2019 and July 2020 respectively to provide support for employees affected by economic downturn. As at the end of February this year, about 16 200 and 17 100 trainees enrolled in courses under the first and second tranches respectively. The third tranche, which provides 20 000 training places, started in January this year. As announced in the 2021-22 Budget, the ERB will launch the fourth tranche this July, which will last for six months until the end of this year, enabling 20 000 more trainees to receive retraining. The ERB will continue to provide more training options under the Special Scheme and more online courses for trainees to engage in distance learning during the epidemic.
Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme
Apart from local employment, our young people can look farther ahead to tap the new opportunities presented by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), which is a key development strategy in the country’s reform and opening up in the new era. Being the most open and economically vibrant region in China, the GBA has a population exceeding 72 million and a gross domestic product of US$1.7 trillion. Such a huge market has indeed opened up a wide scope of development for Hong Kong, providing our young people with a new pathway for employment and career development.
The Government will leave no stone unturned in promoting the development of the GBA by encouraging the participation of all sectors of the community, especially young people. To encourage and support young people to work and pursue their career in the Mainland cities of the GBA, the Government has allocated $376 million to launch the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, which is targeted at Hong Kong residents with bachelor’s degrees or above awarded from 2019 to 2021. Graduates employed under the scheme will receive a monthly salary of no less than $18,000. Last Tuesday and Wednesday, the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme Job Expo was held in a hybrid format, both online and offline. So far, over 1 800 job vacancies have been secured.
Last Wednesday, I visited the Job Expo and chatted with some job seekers and participating employers to see how they view the scheme. Employers from different fields, such as innovation and technology, banking, accounting, public relations, administration and education, briefed me on the wide-ranging job opportunities that they offered in the GBA. Job seekers agreed that career prospects in the GBA were promising and hoped to grasp the job opportunities in the Mainland cities of the GBA to broaden their horizons and develop their career.
On the same day, I officiated at the opening of the Greater Bay Area Young Talents Association Inauguration Ceremony cum Greater Bay Area Youth Professional Forum. Speaking at the ceremony, I remarked that the theme “Pool Talents, Set Sail” was a most appropriate one for the occasion as it highlighted that the GBA, being an entry point for Hong Kong to integrate into the overall development of our country, offers a new fairway for Hong Kong’s young talent to develop their career.
The GBA not only provides new impetus for Hong Kong’s economic development, but also presents key opportunities for the post-epidemic recovery of Hong Kong’s economy. I would like to encourage our young people to look far ahead and grasp the historic opportunity of the GBA development to unleash their potential in the much larger arena of the GBA.
Conclusion
No matter whether we are talking about employment, economic growth, youth development or opportunities presented by national development, a stable and harmonious political and social environment is always indispensable. In the final analysis, national security must be underpinned by political security, without which Hong Kong will not be able to enjoy long-term prosperity and stability.
The adoption of the Decision of the National People’s Congress on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the Decision) is a major move taken by the Central Authorities to improve the laws and political system of Hong Kong. By plugging the loopholes and deficiencies in Hong Kong’s electoral system, the Decision aims to put in place institutional safeguards to enable comprehensive implementation of the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong”, so as to ensure the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and the steadfast and successful implementation of “One Country, Two Systems”. I look forward to the dawning of a new day in Hong Kong’s electoral system, which should be a more sophisticated one with better representation and in better accord with the local situation. Only in this way will Hong Kong’s political system embark on a journey of success.
The HKSAR Government has started to look into local electoral laws that will require amendment. Once the amendments to the methods for selecting the Chief Executive and for forming the Legislative Council are approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the HKSAR Government will proceed promptly with amending the relevant local electoral laws in accordance with the revised Annexes I and II to the Basic Law, and seek to introduce a bill to the Legislative Council for scrutiny at the earliest possible time. The Government will also make every effort to explain the contents of the bill to the community.
Despite the subsidence of the epidemic situation, we must not let down our guard. During the Easter holidays, we must be even more vigilant and strictly comply with the social distancing measures. Since vaccination is of paramount importance in our fight against the epidemic, I urge everyone to protect themselves and others by getting vaccinated without hesitation.
