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Report of the Commissioner for Labour 2000

Chapter 8 : Employment Services

8.1 To help job-seekers find jobs and employers recruit staff, the department provides free employment assistance, job counselling service and careers guidance through its five divisions. They are the Employment Services Division, the Employment Information and Promotion Division, the Selective Placement Division, the Job Matching Centre, and the Careers and Employment Agencies Division comprising the Careers Advisory Service, the External Employment Service and the Employment Agencies Administration.

Employment Services for Job-seekers
8.2 The Employment Services Division provides free employment services through a network of nine job centres and two Employment and Guidance Centres for New Arrivals. The Job Vacancy Processing Centre of the Employment Information and Promotion Division provides a one-stop service for employers to place job vacancy orders. The Telephone Employment Service Centre provides job referral service to the registrants over the phone. The Central Recruitment Unit assists government departments to recruit staff for junior posts under Model I pay scale as well as temporary posts.

8.3 The division offers job-seekers with different modes of placement service. Job-seekers can select suitable vacancies and seek referral service from its staff. Those who require more personal and intensive assistance can join the Job Matching Programme. In addition, job-seekers who have already registered with the division can dial up the Telephone Employment Service Centre to obtain job referral service. Job-seekers can also contact employers direct for vacancies for which the employers concerned are willing to display their contact means for arrangement of job interviews. Major statistics on the work of the Employment Services Division and Employment Information and Promotion Division are at Figure 32.

Job Matching Programme
8.4 The Job Matching Programme provides intensive employment counselling and job matching services to unemployed job-seekers. Job-seekers may participate in group counselling sessions under the programme to have a deeper understanding of the latest labour market information and to receive core skills training. Placement officers would identify suitable job vacancies according to their qualifications, job skills, work experience and job expectations. Job-seekers would be referred, where appropriate, to attend retraining courses run by the Employees Retraining Board. The programme has registered 66 553 job-seekers and secured 46 535 job offers since its launch on 1 April 1995 up to 31 December 2000.

Services for New Arrivals
8.5 To meet the special needs of new arrivals from the Mainland in finding jobs, two employment and guidance centres were set up in Shau Kei Wan and Mong Kok in September 1997 and March 1999 respectively. The centres provide a comprehensive range of employment services tailor-made for the new arrivals. Placement officers of the centres carry out intensive job matching to help them find jobs and refer them to suitable retraining courses where necessary. Other services of the centres include provision of labour market information, employment counselling, briefing on job interview skills and conditions of work in Hong Kong. Each centre is equipped with a reference library, supplying publications on employment and training opportunities and audio-visual facilities.

Job Vacancy Processing Centre
8.6 Employers wishing to recruit staff can send their vacancy information to the Job Vacancy Processing Centre simply by dialing a fax number (2566 3331) or a telephone number (2503 3377). The centre processes vacancy orders centrally and disseminates vacancy information to all job centres through computer network. All vacancy information will be uploaded onto the LAN and the Internet within one working day.

Telephone Employment Service Centre
8.7 Job-seekers who have already registered with the Employment Services Division may simply call the Telephone Employment Service Centre for job referral service. Through conference calls, staff of the centre can make arrangement for job-seekers to talk to employers directly.

Interactive Employment Service
8.8 The Employment Service Division launched an Interactive Employment Service (iES) in March 1999 to provide employment and recruitment services on the web. The contents and functions of iES were significantly enhanced in 2000. Job-seekers can now register for employment service, view the latest vacancy information and do job matching on-line. Employers can place job vacancy orders , update their company profiles and select suitable candidates on the Internet. The website address of iES has been simplified as http://www.jobs.gov.hk.

8.9 In 2000, a total of 44 250 133 hits was recorded, averaging 120 902 hits per day.

Outreaching Placement Service
8.10 Outreaching Placement Service is rendered to workers affected by major retrenchments. When large-scale retrenchment occurs, placement officers of the Employment Service Division will reach out to provide on-the-spot assistance or assign special counters at respective job centres for providing employment service to the affected workers . In 2000, the service reached out to 4 916 retrenched workers of 49 companies.

Services to Students Seeking Summer Jobs
8.11 In 2000, the department continued to promote summer job-seekers' awareness of employment traps and work safety. Posters, booklets and leaflets publicising the message were distributed to secondary schools and other outlets.

Employment Information and Promotion Programme
8.12 The Employment Information and Promotion Programme strengthens the promotion of the services rendered by the Employment Services Division. In 2000, a variety of promotional activities were held under the programme. These activities included exhibitions, job bazaars, recruitment seminars, briefings and visits to employers, and they reached out to 3 080 employers and 38 323 job-seekers.

Employment Services for People with a Disability
8.13 The Selective Placement Division, which operates three offices located in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, provides a specialised employment service to the visually impaired, hearing impaired, physically handicapped, chronically ill, mentally handicapped and ex-mentally ill persons who seek open employment. Each job-seeker is given personal attention by a placement officer who provides counselling and employment services. Statistics on the work of the division are at Figure 33.

8.14 Officers of the division engage in a variety of activities to promote the employment opportunities of people with a disability. They visit prospective employers (including government departments), organise exhibitions, and launch campaigns to canvass vacancies. The division also organises an annual function to commend both employees with a disability for their outstanding performance at work and enlightened employers for their distinctive efforts in providing employment opportunities for people with a disability.

8.15 Promotional activities in 2000 included a series of radio programmes to enhance public understanding of the working abilities of people with a disability, seminars for employers and a Self Learning Kit on Job-searching Skills for people with a disability. The division also conducted group counselling sessions to improve the job-searching skills of registrants with a disability. It was actively involved in the employees retraining programmes for people with a disability.

Careers Guidance
8.16 The Careers Advisory Service promotes careers education in Hong Kong and helps young people choose a career best suited to their talents, interests and abilities.

8.17 It operates two careers information centres that function as information banks for young people and careers teachers. Each centre is equipped with a reference library supplying publications and audio-visual resources on employment and training opportunities. Careers videos and VCDs are available for free loan to secondary schools and youth organisations. Careers counselling and guidance service are also available to visitors of the centre. In 2000, the two centres received 23 043 visitors and handled 34 786 consultations.

8.18 To enhance careers awareness among young people and provide them with first-hand careers information, the Careers Advisory Service organises a variety of careers activities, including the Education and Careers Expo, the Careers Quiz, school-based careers activities and visits to workplaces. The Careers Quiz 2000, an associated activity of the Education and Careers Expo 2001, took place from 23 October to 3 November 2000, attracting 151 627 students from 301 secondary schools, among them were students from special schools. In collaboration with the Education Department, the Careers Advisory Service organised two part-time certificate courses for in-service careers masters in the 2000/2001 school year. It also redesigned its website to enrich its contents, increase interactive elements and make it more user-friendly. In 2000, young people participating in careers activities reached a record number of 749 318. (Figure 34)

8.19 The Careers Advisory Service is responsible for the co-ordination of the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme. It liaises closely with relevant government departments, training bodies, voluntary agencies, employers and other key players to ensure the smooth running of the programme.

Control of Employment Agencies
8.20 The Employment Agencies Administration, administering Part XII of the Employment Ordinance and the Employment Agency Regulations, is responsible for regulating employment agencies to safeguard the interests of job-seekers, particularly in respect of fee-charging. At the end of 2000, there were 1 286 licensed employment agencies in Hong Kong. During the year, 1 101 inspections to employment agencies were conducted to ensure compliance with the law and to investigate complaints.

Labour Importation
8.21 The Job Matching Centre, which was set up on 1 February 1996, is responsible for receiving and processing applications from employers for imported workers under the Supplementary Labour Scheme. The scheme operates on the principle 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. Active job matching and referral services are provided to local job-seekers to accord them with priority in filling vacancies registered under the scheme. 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.

8.22 Vacancies registered under the scheme are publicised through newspapers and the Internet. Information on these vacancies is also widely circulated to trade unions, retraining bodies, public housing estates, Social Welfare Department, District Offices and the department's job centres in the form of special supplements. Other publicity activities include organising recruitment forums, job fairs, and exhibitions in public housing estates and commercial centres.