Labour Department launched pilot programmes to enhance youth employment

Participants at a large scale workshop on youth employment in Hong Kong organised by the Labour Department today (November 30) unanimously pledged to develope decent and sustainable youth employment.

They also supported the three new pilot programmes presented by the department to further enhance overall youth employability.

Concluding the discussion on the three pilot programmes, the Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Mr Siu Wai-lam, said: "These projects will be implemented under the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme (YPTP), which has been playing an important role in youth employment since it was launched in September 1999. The number of youngsters, training bodies and employers participating in the YPTP has continuously increased."

"The main objective of the YPTP is to enhance youth employability. It provides skills training and helps youngsters equip themselves for work. It attaches great importance to youngsters' needs for careers guidance and provides a full range of support and opportunities for development.

"Surveys conducted by the department and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University have confirmed the effectiveness of the YPTP in enhancing youth employability and the widespread support of the programme by the society. The YPTP serves as a bridge between schooling and work," Mr Siu said.

"The first pilot programme is to encourage parent involvement in helping youngsters develop positive attitudes towards life and work. Parent and Children Workshops will be organised in conjuction with social service organisations.

"At these workshops, parents will be briefed on youth employment problems, the need and psychology of their children, the skills in communication and counselling, as well as the ways to make use of community resources.

"The workshops will be conducted in four consecutive weekends, to be followed by a day camp.

"They will help youngsters understand parents' expectations, master effective communication with their parents and find ways for assistance," Mr Siu said.

Mr Siu pointed out that according to local studies, employers did not have a good impression of young people at work. On the other hand, parents only wished their children could pursue further studies and often neglected their employment problems. It would be more difficult to handle youth unemployment problems if the poor image of youngsters intensified.

He said that parents with much social experience could play an important role in helping their children to transfer from school to work. Some of them, however, might need relevant training and support to play such a role.

Another pilot project is on youth entrepreneurship. "Encouraging young people to start their own business is worthwhile exploring in order to enhance youth employability and relieve youth unemployment problems. Apart from providing opportunities for young people, it will also bring new impetus to the economy, thus creating positive effects," Mr Siu said.

"Hong Kong has introduced some self-employment business start-up schemes and measures for job-seekers to seek financial assistance. However, the schemes for those aged 15 to 19 are just small-scaled trial programmes offered by youth service organisations.

"The YPTP will co-operate with training bodies to provide basic 'start-up capital' for trainees to set up five business start-up teams to bid for stalls at the Lunar New Year Fair at the Victoria Park. This will provide practical experience to trainees.

"With the guidance of training bodies, trainees will learn to conduct their own research, draw up their business plans, manage and mobilise resources, as well as handle customers.

"They will learn how to deal with inter-personal problems during the process," he said.

The third pilot project is to enhance youth employability in tourism and related industries.

"To enhance youth employability, we must help young people acquire the required work skills and the relevant market information, learn from practical experience and prepare for employment by adopting a comprehensive approach that caters for market development and the needs of employers.

"Tourism is pivotal in our economic development. It is expected to bring tens of thousands of jobs for young people in the coming years," Mr Siu said.

"In order to train the required talents, the Labour Department and the China Travel Services (CTS) have introduced a tailor-made training course with the assistance of the Hong Kong Tourism Training Centre. Before the course commences, trainees will be interviewed to ensure that they meet the requirements of CTS's human resources development plan.

"Comprehensive information on the industry's prospect, job nature and conditions of service will be provided. Apart from obtaining practical job skills training, trainees will also be able to acquire relevant professional qualifications," he said.

The CTS selected 28 trainees for the first training course from November 12 to 26. Upon completion of the course, trainees must acquire a tourist guide licence authorised by the Travel Industry Council before attending a one-month workplace attachment training in December. CTS will offer employment to those trainees who have a licence and satisfactory performance during the training.

The Labour Department will continue to solicit more training and employment opportunities from the industry.

"Upon completion of the pilot projects, the department will review their effectiveness with the concerned organisations and organise experience-sharing activities to bring in new ideas in developing sustainable youth employment," he said.

The International Labour Organisation invited the Labour Department to co-organise this regional workshop with the Labour Advisory Board and the Commission on Youth.