Chapter 5 Employment Services

The Programme of Employment Services

www.labour.gov.hk/eng/service/content.htm

5.1The objective of the Employment Services Programme is to provide a comprehensive range of free employment assistance and recruitment services to help job seekers find suitable jobs and employers fill their vacancies. We achieve this by:

• providing user-friendly employment and recruitment services to job seekers and employers;
• offering dedicated employment-related assistance and personalised services to vulnerable groups of unemployed people;
• assisting young people to enhance their employability and advising them on careers choice;
• regulating local employment agencies;
• safeguarding the interests of local employees employed by employers outside Hong Kong to work in other territories; and
• processing applications under the Supplementary Labour Scheme and ensuring employment priority for local workers in filling vacancies under the scheme.

5.2The principal legislation administered by this programme area includes Part XII of the Employment Ordinance (EO), the Employment Agency Regulations made under the EO and the Contracts for Employment Outside Hong Kong Ordinance (CEOHKO).

5.3Part XII of the EO, together with the Employment Agency Regulations, regulates the operation of employment agencies in Hong Kong through licensing, inspection, investigation and prosecution.

5.4The CEOHKO safeguards the interests of local manual workers and those non-manual employees with monthly wages not exceeding $20,000 who are recruited by employers outside Hong Kong to work in other territories through the attestation of employment contracts of these persons.

Our Work and Achievements in 2022

Employment Situation in Hong Kong

5.5The labour market was under notable pressure in the early months of 2022 but improved subsequently in the rest of the year. After rising to a high of 5.4% in February – April 2022, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell successively to 4.7% in the second quarter, 3.9% in the third quarter and 3.5% in the fourth quarter. The underemployment rate also fell successively from 3.8% in February – April 2022 to 1.5% in the fourth quarter. For updated statistics on the labour force, unemployment rate and underemployment rate, please visit the webpage: www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/web_table.html?id=6.

5.6The Labour Department (LD) recorded 1 086 335 vacancies offered by employers of the private sector for free recruitment service in 2022. In the year, a total of 164 713 placements were secured. (Appendices 5.1 and 5.2)

A Wider Service Choice

Job Centres

5.7Job seekers can browse vacancies at 13 job centres of the LD and seek referral service provided by the staff or apply to the employers direct. Job seekers can meet with employment officers to obtain personalised employment advisory services. Employment officers will also assist job seekers to join the employment programmes of the LD. Various facilities such as digital display system, touchscreen vacancy search terminals, fax machines, toll-free telephones, computers connected to the Internet and resource corners are available for the use by job seekers.

Industry-based Recruitment Centres

5.8The three industry-based recruitment centres of the LD, namely the Recruitment Centre for the Catering Industry, the Recruitment Centre for the Retail Industry and the Construction Industry Recruitment Centre, provide free as well as one-stop and on-the-spot recruitment services for employers and job seekers, enhancing the efficiency of recruitment and job search.

Telephone Employment Service

5.9Job seekers registered at the LD may call our Telephone Employment Service Centre on 2969 0888 for job referral service. Through conference calls, staff of the centre can make arrangement for job seekers to talk to employers direct.

Online Employment Services

5.10The LD’s Interactive Employment Service (iES) website (www.jobs.gov.hk) provides round-the-clock online employment services and comprehensive employment information. The iES website is the most popular government job board in Hong Kong, recording around 339 million page views in 2022. It hosts a number of thematic webpages to provide dedicated employment information for specific clientele. Job seekers can also use the iES mobile application anytime and anywhere to look for suitable vacancies in the job vacancy database of the LD and receive notifications on newly posted vacancies matched by the system according to their pre-set search criteria. The mobile application recorded around 251 million hit counts in 2022.

Job Vacancies

5.11Employers who need to recruit staff can send their vacancy information to our Job Vacancy Processing Centre by fax (2566 3331) or through the Internet (www.jobs.gov.hk). The vacancy information is then disseminated through a network of 13 job centres, three recruitment centres for the catering, retail and construction industries, the iES website and mobile application as well as vacancy search terminals located in various sites throughout the territory after vetting.

Recruitment and Promotional Activities

5.12The LD organises a variety of activities to promote our employment services and appeal for vacancies from employers. Job fairs are held to facilitate job seekers and employers to meet and communicate direct. Apart from large-scale job fairs, district-based job fairs are held at job centres to assist employers to recruit residents in the locality and to enable job seekers to participate in job interviews without having to travel long distance.

5.13To reduce the risk of viral infection posed by the congregation of people during the COVID-19 outbreak, the LD organised online job fairs in place of some physical job fairs. The LD resumed the organisation of job fairs after the epidemic had stabilised. In the year, ten large-scale job fairs and three online job fairs were held, attracting over 6 500 job seekers to attend large-scale job fairs and receiving more than 1 300 job applications during online job fairs. At the same time, 614 district-based job fairs were organised, with over 11 000 on-the-spot interviews arranged.

Services provided for targeted groups

Middle-aged and Elderly Job Seekers

5.14The LD provides dedicated employment services for the elderly and middle-aged persons and promote their employment through various means such as setting up special counters at job centres to provide priority registration and job referral service for the elderly and middle-aged job seekers, conducting employers' experience-sharing sessions, and organising employment briefings and job fairs targeted at the elderly and middle-aged persons.

5.15In addition, the LD implements the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged (EPEM) to encourage employers to hire the elderly and middle-aged and provide them with on-the-job training (OJT) through the provision of OJT allowance. Employers engaging job seekers aged 60 or above who are unemployed or have left the workforce are offered a monthly training allowance of up to $5,000 per employee for six to 12 months. Those who engage unemployed job-seekers aged 40 to 59 are offered an allowance of up to $4,000 per month per employee for three to six months. The EPEM covers both full-time and part-time jobs. There were 2 707 placements eligible for joining the programme in 2022.

New Arrival and Ethnic Minority Job Seekers

5.16The LD’s job centres provide comprehensive employment services to new arrival and ethnic minority job seekers. These include employment advisory services, job referral, employment briefing and information resources. The job seekers in need are encouraged to participate in various employment programmes to enhance their employment opportunities.

5.17Since September 2014, the LD has implemented the “Employment Services Ambassador Programme for Ethnic Minorities” to employ trainees of the Youth Employment and Training Programme who can communicate in ethnic minority languages to work as Employment Services Ambassadors at job centres, industry-based recruitment centres and job fairs. Moreover, since May 2017, we have engaged two employment assistants proficient in ethnic minority languages at two selected job centres to strengthen employment support for ethnic minority job seekers, especially those of South Asian origins. The LD planned to recruit more ethnic minorities for the appointment as employment assistants and general assistants starting from the first half of 2023 to enhance their employment opportunities. Furthermore, inclusive job fairs are organised to enhance the employment opportunities of the ethnic minorities.

5.18The LD also commissioned two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to implement the Racial Diversity Employment Programme on a three-year pilot basis since November 2020 to provide one-stop employment services for ethnic minority job seekers in a case management approach. In 2022, the programme served 344 ethnic minority job seekers and recorded 122 placements, including 32 placements by referral. After review, the LD will regularise the implementation of this programme.

Work Trial Scheme (WTS)

5.19The WTS seeks to enhance the employment opportunities of job seekers who have difficulties in finding jobs. There is no age limit for applicants. Participants take up jobs offered by participating organisations during the one-month work-trial with no employer-employee relationship. On completion of the one-month full-time work trial, the maximum allowance payable to each participant is $8,300, while the allowance for part-time work trial is calculated at an hourly rate of $49. Of this allowance, $500 are contributed by the participating organisation. In 2022, a total of 201 job seekers were placed into work trials.

Workers Affected by Large-scale Retrenchment

5.20In major business closure or redundancy cases, the LD sets up hotlines for enquiry and special counters at job centres to provide special employment services to affected employees. We canvass suitable vacancies from employers to facilitate job search of the affected employees. In addition, under our iES website, a dedicated webpage displays vacancies offered by employers interested in recruiting job seekers who have lost their jobs in recent closure or redundancy exercises. This helps the affected employees find suitable jobs more effectively. In the year, we offered such special employment services to some 5 500 affected employees.

Job Seekers with Disabilities

5.21The Selective Placement Division (SPD) offers employment assistance to job seekers with disabilities who are fit for open employment. Employment consultants provide personalised employment services, including employment counselling, job matching and referral as well as post-placement follow-up services. In 2022, the SPD registered 2 570 job seekers with disabilities and secured 2 412 placements. (Appendix 5.3)

Work Orientation and Placement Scheme (WOPS)

5.22The WOPS facilitates open employment of persons with disabilities by encouraging employers to engage persons with disabilities and render them with coaching and support through the provision of an allowance. The maximum allowance payable under WOPS to an eligible employer for engaging each person with disabilities having employment difficulties during the nine-month allowance period totalled $60,000. In 2022, WOPS recorded 1 228 placements.

Self Help Integrated Placement Service (SHIPS)

5.23The SHIPS aims at improving the job searching skills of job seekers with disabilities and encouraging them to be more proactive in job hunt, thereby enhancing their employment opportunities. In 2022, 251 job seekers with disabilities participated in the programme.

Interactive Selective Placement Service (iSPS) Website

5.24The iSPS website (www.jobs.gov.hk/isps) provides employment services for job seekers with disabilities and employers. The website enables persons with disabilities to register with the SPD, browse job vacancy information and perform preliminary job matching. It also enables employers to place vacancy orders, identify suitable job seekers with disabilities to fill their vacancies and request the SPD to refer candidates to them for selection interview.

Promotional Activities

5.25To enhance public understanding of the work abilities of persons with disabilities as well as to publicise the services of the SPD and the WOPS, the SPD conducted a series of promotional activities, such as producing publications and advertisements, broadcasting promotional videos, and publicising promotional messages through newspapers, publications of employers’ associations, radio and television channels, public transport network, wall banners and mobile application advertisements during the year. In addition, promotional visits were paid to employers of different trades and publicity materials were sent to them to canvass more job vacancies for persons with disabilities.

Services for Young People

Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme

5.26The LD launched the pilot Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme (GBA YES) in January 2021 to encourage enterprises with business in both Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Mainland cities to employ Hong Kong residents who were awarded a bachelor’s degree or above in 2019 to 2021 and deploy them to work in the GBA Mainland cities. Enterprises should employ the graduates according to Hong Kong laws with a monthly salary of not less than HK$18,000. The LD granted a monthly allowance of HK$10,000 to the enterprises for each graduate employed for a maximum period of 18 months.

5.27GBA YES recorded a total of 3 494 job vacancies from 417 enterprises and 1 091 youngsters had reported for duty. The pilot scheme received favourable feedback from the participating enterprises and young people. The LD will launch the regularised GBA YES in the first half of 2023.

Youth Employment and Training Programme (YETP)

5.28To enhance the employability of young people, the LD administers the YETP, a “through-train” programme providing seamless and comprehensive training and employment support to young school leavers aged 15 to 24 with educational attainment at sub-degree level or below.

5.29Trainees can enrol on a year-round basis and are entitled to a full range of coordinated and customised training and employment support services, including pre-employment training, one-month workplace attachment training, OJT of six to 12 months, reimbursement of off-the-job course and examination fees up to $4,000 per trainee, as well as case management services rendered by registered social workers. Employers who engage trainees under the YETP and provide them with OJT are entitled to a maximum training allowance of $5,000 per month per employee for six to 12 months.

5.30In the 2021/22 programme year running from September 2021 to August 2022, 1 665 young people attended pre-employment training and 1 384 OJT placements were secured under the YETP.

5.31The YETP collaborates with training bodies and individual employers or employers of specific sectors to launch special employment projects, providing tailor-made pre-employment training and OJT for young people. In the 2021/22 programme year, 15 special employment projects and 35 thematic job fairs were organised, involving employers in the banking, retail, catering, aviation as well as construction and engineering industries, etc.

5.32In August, the LD co-organised the Award Ceremony of YETP Most Improved Trainees 2022 with Radio Television Hong Kong. The event, themed “Seize the Future”, showcased the improvements of trainees after joining the YETP and commended the caring efforts of training bodies and employers. Trainees’ successful experience constituted the best encouragement to their peers. It was also a sterling testimony to the achievements of trainees, training bodies, employers and the Government in nurturing the development of the young generation. In the year, we also held truck promotion activities to attract young people to join the YETP.

5.33The YETP continued to operate the “Career Kick Start” project in 2022 to offer OJT of 12 months’ duration to young people with employment needs through placements in NGOs with a view to enhancing their employability. Participating NGOs are encouraged to assist trainees in securing full-time jobs in the open employment market by the provision of Placement Incentive.

Youth Employment Support

5.34The LD operates two youth employment resource centres named Youth Employment Start. The centres provide personalised advisory and support services on employment and self-employment to young people aged between 15 and 29 to facilitate them to map out their career path, enhance their employment opportunities and support them to pursue self-employment. Services provided include career assessment, career guidance, professional counselling, value-adding training, self-employment support as well as up-to-date labour market information. In 2022, the number of services provided to young people by the two centres totalled 54 052.

Working Holiday Scheme (WHS)

5.35Since 2001, Hong Kong has established bilateral WHS with 14 economies, namely New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Canada, Korea, France, the United Kingdom, Austria, Hungary, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy (commencement date to be confirmed). The scheme provided an opportunity for Hong Kong youths aged between 18 and 30 to broaden their horizons, allowing them to experience foreign culture through living and working temporarily while holidaymaking overseas. At the same time, youths of our partner economies may also learn more about Hong Kong through the scheme.

5.36A majority of partner economies allow Hong Kong youths to stay in their economies for up to 12 months and take up short-term employment to subsidise their expenses, and/or study short-term courses (except for Ireland) while holidaying.

5.37The WHS has been well received among young people. As at end-2022, more than 100 000 Hong Kong youths participated in the scheme, while more than 15 400 youths from the partner economies came to Hong Kong under the scheme. The LD will continue to enhance the publicity of this scheme, and explore with more economies to establish new WHS or expand existing bilateral arrangements in order to provide more choices and opportunities for Hong Kong youths to participate in the scheme.

Regulating Local Employment Agencies and Employment outside Hong Kong

5.38The LD regulates employment agencies in Hong Kong through licensing, inspection, complaint investigation and prosecution. In 2022, we issued 3 550 employment agency licences and revoked one licence. As at end-2022, there were 3 478 licensed employment agencies in Hong Kong. A total of  1 714 inspections were made by the LD officers to employment agencies in the year.

5.39We promulgate the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies (the Code) for compliance by the industry with a view to promoting professionalism and service quality in the industry. At the same time, the dedicated Employment Agencies Portal (www.eaa.labour.gov.hk) provides employment agency operators and staff, job seekers, employers and other members of the public with updated information related to the regulation of employment agencies. The portal also publishes the records of conviction of the offences of overcharging and unlicensed operation, revocation or refusal of renewal of licence and written warnings issued for non-compliance with the Code, so as to assist members of the public in making informed decisions when engaging the services of employment agencies. The enhanced transparency also helps foster the adoption of good practices by the industry.

5.40The LD also safeguards the interests of local employees engaged by employers outside Hong Kong to work in other territories by attesting all employment contracts entered into Hong Kong involving manual employees and non-manual employees with monthly wages not exceeding $20,000.

Regulating Labour Importation

Supplementary Labour Scheme (SLS)

5.41The LD administers the SLS which operates on the principles of ensuring employment priority for local workers while allowing employers with proven recruitment difficulties to apply for importation of workers at technician level or below.

5.42We provide active job matching and referral services for local job seekers, and widely publicise vacancies under the SLS to ensure their employment priority. Local workers can attend tailor-made retraining courses, if appropriate, to better equip themselves to fill the vacancies. Applications from employers who have set restrictive and unreasonable job requirements or who have no sincerity in employing local workers will be rejected.

5.43As at end-2022, there were 6 657 imported workers working in Hong Kong under the SLS.

Policy on Foreign Domestic Helpers (FDHs)

5.44FDHs have been admitted to work in Hong Kong since the 1970s. Apart from enjoying the same statutory rights and benefits as all employees in Hong Kong, FDHs are further protected by a Government-prescribed Standard Employment Contract, which stipulates that the employer has to provide to the FDH free accommodation with reasonable privacy, free food (or food allowance in lieu), free passage to and from the FDH’s place of origin, free medical treatment, etc. FDHs also enjoy wage protection through the Government-prescribed Minimum Allowable Wage (MAW), under which employers have to pay FDHs a salary no less than the prevailing MAW when the contracts are signed. The Government attaches great importance to safeguarding FDHs’ statutory and contractual rights. The LD spares no efforts in investigating suspected offence cases and prosecution action will be taken out if there is sufficient evidence.

5.45To strengthen the protection of FDHs and enhance the awareness of both employers and FDHs of their rights, benefits and responsibilities, the LD continued to maintain close liaison with and disseminate information on employment matters through the governments of the FDH-sending countries and their consulates-general in Hong Kong, NGOs serving FDHs, FDH employer groups and employment agency associations.

5.46In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the LD conducted mobile broadcasts in Chinese, English and major languages of the FDHs at their popular gathering places on Saturdays and Sundays to call upon them to comply with the regulations on mask-wearing and prohibition of group gatherings in public places.

5.47As at end-2022, there were 338 189 FDHs in Hong Kong, with 56.2% coming from the Philippines and 41.4% from Indonesia.