Unemployment remains the foremost concern of the Labour Department in 2004. To complement the job creation efforts of the Government, we give every assistance to local job-seekers, particularly the more vulnerable groups. The objective of the Employment Services Programme is to provide a comprehensive range of free and efficient employment assistance and counselling services to help job-seekers find suitable jobs and employers fill their vacancies. We achieve this by:

• providing user-friendly employment services to employers and job-seekers;
  
• offering intensive employment-related assistance and personal service 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
  
• ensuring that employment opportunities for local workers are not adversely affected by abuse of the labour importation scheme.

The Employment Agency Regulations, together with the Part XII of the Employment Ordinance, regulate the operation of employment agencies in Hong Kong through a licensing system, inspection, investigation and prosecution.

The Contracts for Employment Outside Hong Kong Ordinance 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 for these jobs.

The labour market remained generally buoyant in 2004. The department received an all-time high of 297 186 vacancies from the private sector, a hefty increase of 38 per cent when compared with 215 430 in 2003. For data on labour force, unemployment rate and underemployment rate, please visit the following webpage: http://www.info.gov.hk/censtatd/eng/hkstat/fas/labour/ghs/labour1_index.html.

In face of persistently high unemployment, the department vigorously stepped up its employment services for job-seekers. A record-high figure of 86 257 placements was achieved for 2004, up 31 per cent over the level of 66 100 in 2003. (Figures 5.1 and 5.2)

Job-seekers can select suitable vacancies and seek referral service at all job centres. Modern facilities such as digital display system, self-service touch-screen vacancy search terminals, fax machines, toll-free telephones, computers connected to the Internet and a careers information corner are available.

Our Interactive Employment Service (iES) website (http://www.jobs.gov.hk) provides round-the-clock Internet employment service and comprehensive employment information. The iES is one of the most popular government websites in Hong Kong, accounting for about one-third of the page views for all government websites. In 2004, the iES achieved a record number of 684 million page views, an increase of 10 per cent over 2003. It hyperlinks with leading employment websites in Hong Kong and hosts a number of dedicated webpages for specific clientele groups.

To address the mismatch in supply and demand in the LDH market and to promote LDH service, the Special Incentive Allowance Scheme was launched in June 2003. A sum of $60 million was earmarked to provide incentive allowance to qualified LDHs who are willing to work across districts or during unsocial hours (i.e. 5 pm to 9 am). It is estimated that some 8 000 LDHs will benefit from the scheme. Successful applicants will receive an allowance of $50 per day, with an overall cap of $7,200. As at end-2004, there were some 3 700 approved applications. In 2004, we continued to publicise our dedicated employment services for LDHs through the website of the iES, roving exhibitions, job fairs and many other promotional efforts.

We provide through our job centres a comprehensive range of employment services to new arrivals. These include employment counselling, job referral, employment briefing and employment information.

In the event of major retrenchment, we will assign special counters at the job centres or will render on-the-spot employment services to workers affected. In 2004, the service reached out to 1 038 retrenched workers of 12 companies.

The Graduate Employment Training Scheme was launched on 1 August 2003 in conjunction with seven local universities to place fresh graduates into training posts under the scheme. Employers providing on-the-job training for these graduates received a training subsidy of $2,000 for six months. The scheme was completed in June 2004 and more than 1 300 graduates had been placed under the scheme.

The Selective Placement Division (SPD) offers employment assistance to disabled job-seekers seeking open employment. Placement officers will provide personalised counselling, employment services and where appropriate, make referrals to tailor-made retraining programmes. In 2004, SPD registered 4 002 disabled job-seekers and helped place 2 391 of them into employment. The placement rate was 60 per cent. (Figure 5.3)

The Self Help Integrated Placement Service (SHIPS) aims at improving the job-searching skills of disabled job-seekers and encouraging them to be more proactive in the search for jobs, thereby enhancing their employment opportunities. In 2004, 641 disabled job-seekers participated in the programme. The overall placement rate was about 71 per cent.

The Selective Placement Division (SPD) launched an Interactive Selective Placement Service (iSPS) Website (http://www.jobs.gov.hk/isps) in January 2003 to provide enhanced employment services for disabled job-seekers and employers through the Internet. The website enables disabled persons to register or renew their registrations with SPD, browse job vacancy information and perform preliminary job-matching. It also enables employers to place vacancy orders with SPD, identify suitable disabled job-seekers to fill their vacancies and request SPD to refer candidates to them for selection interview. Response to the iSPS has been very favourable. In 2004, it recorded a total of 2 952 955 page views and 9 437 online requests for SPD's services.

The 2004-05 programme year of YWETS focuses on the development of special tailor-made projects for industries and individual establishments. Since August 2004, a wide range of tailor-made special employment projects providing some 1 000 training vacancies have been launched to enhance trainees' vocational skills and to cater for sustainable career development. These projects enable trainees to gain work experience in various industries like aviation, tourism, information technology, education and social services, film and entertainment. With support from non-government organisations participating in the YWETS, the "Action S4" project which caters specifically for the needs of the more vulnerable trainees has also been re-launched with new features added.

Feedback from trainees, employers and case managers on the YWETS is highly favourable. Independent consultants from the Centre for Social Policy Studies of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University also confirmed the effectiveness of the scheme in enhancing the employability of young people in a mid-term review conducted in 2003.

In 2004, we continued with the YPTP and provided a wide range of employment-related training and workplace attachment opportunities. Government departments, training bodies and voluntary agencies join hands to provide the following four modular training: (a) leadership, discipline and team building; (b) job-search and interpersonal skills; (c) elementary/ intermediate computer application; and (d) job-specific skills training. Organisations from the private and public sectors as well as social welfare agencies offer workplace attachment places for trainees so they can obtain practical work experience and better understand the real work environment. Professional youth workers are available to provide career counselling and support services throughout the programme. In the new phase of the programme, a number of training courses geared to market needs have been added. Workplace English or Putonghua has been included in the training to enhance trainees' language ability.

At the close of the application period on 31 October 2004, about 5 200 applications were received with some 1 500 applicants accepted for participating in the YSSS. To promote the YSSS and help trainees canvass business opportunities, a Flea Market was staged on 20 November 2004. As at the end of 2004, the trainees have conducted 1 420 business transactions with gross profits of about $940,000 recorded.

A total of 41 719 participants took part in an Online Careers Quiz organised by the department for secondary students in November and December.

Two part-time certificate courses were organised for in-service careers masters in the 2004/2005 school year in collaboration with the Education and Manpower Bureau.

We monitor the operation of employment agencies through licensing, inspection and investigation of complaints. In 2004, 1 501 employment agency licences were issued. Eight licences were revoked and two applications for issue of licence refused. A total of 1 376 enforcement inspections were made to employment agencies. At the end of 2004, there were 1 435 licensed employment agencies in Hong Kong.

We regulate employment outside the territory to safeguard the interests of local employees engaged by employers outside Hong Kong to work in other territories by attesting all employment contracts entered in Hong Kong involving manual employees and non-manual employees with monthly wages not exceeding $20,000.

To cater for the genuine needs of employers, the department administers the Supplementary Labour Scheme that allows the entry of imported workers to take up jobs at technician level or below and which cannot be filled locally. The scheme operates on the principles of ensuring the priority of local workers in employment while allowing employers with proven local recruitment difficulties to import labour to fill the necessary job vacancies. As at the end of 2004, 891 workers were imported under the scheme in Hong Kong.

We provide active job matching and referral services to local job-seekers to ensure their employment priority. Vacancies under the scheme are widely publicised locally. To facilitate local workers in filling the vacancies, they could attend tailor-made retraining courses, if appropriate. Applications from employers who have set restrictive or unreasonable requirements in terms of age, education, sex, skill or experience for the vacancies or who have no genuine intention to employ local workers will be rejected.

FDHs have been admitted to work in Hong Kong since 1970's. FDHs (and other migrant workers) enjoy the same statutory rights and benefits as local employees. The Government attaches great importance to protecting the welfare of FDHs, and has taken every step to safeguard their statutory and contractual rights. The rights and benefits of FDHs are widely publicised. Claims of breach of statutory rights will be promptly investigated and prosecution action will be taken if there is sufficient evidence.

As at the end of 2004, there were 218 430 FDHs in Hong Kong, an increase of 0.7 per cent compared with 216 863 in 2003. About 54.8 per cent of the FDHs in Hong Kong were from the Philippines and 41.2 per cent from Indonesia.