Annual Report 2002

5.1 Unemployment remains the foremost concern of the Labour Department in 2002. 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 effective employment assistance and counselling services to help job-seekers find suitable jobs and employers fill their vacancies. We achieve this by:

5.2 The two principal legislation administered by this programme area are the Employment Agency Regulations made under the Employment Ordinance and the Contracts for Employment Outside Hong Kong Ordinance.

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

5.4 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.

5.5 The labour market remained generally slack in 2002. The restructuring of labour market continued with a further decline of employment in the manufacturing sector. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2002, and the overall unemployment rate increased from 5.1 per cent in 2001 to 7.3 per cent in 2002. On the other hand, the overall underemployment rate increased from 2.5 per cent in 2001 to 3.0 per cent in 2002. Figures 5.1~5.7

5.6 The median hours of work per week for all employed persons was 48 hours in the fourth quarter of 2002. The average wages and salaries received by employees showed an overall decline across various sectors in the year. Figures 5.8 and 5.9

5.7 In spite of the difficult times, our untiring efforts and good performance have been widely recognised. Vacancies registered with the Labour Department rose from 175 841 in 2001 to 209 570 in 2002. Although unemployment rate remained at a high level, the department achieved 62 467 placements. Figures 5.10 and 5.11

5.8 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 phones, computers connected to the Internet and a careers information corner are available.

5.9 Through the Job Matching Programme, our staff conducts briefings and provides intensive and personalised job-matching and counselling service to unemployed job-seekers. Placement officers will also refer job-seekers to suitable retraining courses where appropriate.

5.10 Registered job-seekers may call our Telephone Employment Service Centre for job referral service. Through conference calls, staff of the centre can arrange job-seekers to talk to employers directly.

5.11 Our Interactive Employment Service (iES) website (http://www.jobs.gov.hk) provides round-the-clock internet employment service. Hyperlinked with nine leading employment websites in Hong Kong, the iES has been the most popular government website in Hong Kong, accounting for more than one-third of the page views for all government websites. In 2002, the iES achieved a record number of 288 million page views, a significant increase of 132 per cent when compared to 2001. It is also the host of a number of dedicated webpages for specific clientele groups.

5.12 Employers who need to recruit staff can send their vacancy information to our Job Vacancy Processing Centre through the internet (http://www.jobs.gov.hk), fax (number 2566 3331) or telephone (number 2503 3377). All vacancy information will be uploaded onto the iES in one working day and disseminated to all job centres through computer network.

5.13 We organise a variety of activities to promote our employment services. Visits and briefings are conducted to appeal for vacancies from employers. Recruitment seminars and job fairs are held to facilitate job-seekers and employers to meet and communicate directly. In 2002, these special recruitment and promotional activities reached out to about 48 000 job-seekers and employers.

5.14 The Re-employment Pilot Programme for the Middle-Aged was to provide one-stop employment service to job-seekers aged above 40 who had been unemployed for more than three months. Since its launching in 2001 to 2002, 4 869 job-seekers secured employment through the Programme.

5.15 In 2002, we continued to publicise our dedicated employment services for promoting local domestic helpers employment. Through the iES website, roving exhibitions, job fairs and many other promotional efforts, the service was widely introduced in different parts of the territory.

5.16 The two employment and guidance centres in Shau Kei Wan and Mong Kok provide a comprehensive range of employment service tailor-made for the new arrivals.

5.17 We assign special counters at our job centres or render out-reach employment services to workers affected by major retrenchments. In 2002, the service reached out to 9 656 retrenched workers of 50 companies.

5.18 The Selective Placement Division provides personalised counselling, employment services and referral to tailor-made retraining programmes to job-seekers with a disability who seek open employment. In 2002, the division registered 4 225 disabled job-seekers. 2 572 of them were placed into employment, a record in the history of the division. The placement rate was 61 per cent. Figure 5.12

5.19 The Trial Placement cum Mentor Scheme for People with a Disability was launched in January 2002. It aims at motivating employers to recognise the working abilities of people with a disability through a 1-month trial placement, thereby enhancing the employment opportunities of people with a disability. Participating employers will receive a subsidy equal to half of the wages paid in the 1-month trial period, subject to a ceiling of $3,000. A mentorship element has been included in the scheme to help the disabled workers on trial to settle in the jobs more easily. The response from employers has been encouraging. By the end of 2002, there were 161 employers offering 253 job vacancies. About 78 per cent of the 237 disabled persons participating in the scheme were offered full employment by the employer after the trial period.

5.20 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. As at the end of 2002, 1 743 disabled job-seekers had participated in the programme. The overall placement rate of the SHIPS programme was about 70 per cent, which compared favourably with the general placement rate of the Selective Placement Division for 2002.

5.21 All trainees of the YWETS are provided with career counselling and support service through registered social workers in the capacity of case managers. The trainees are required to attend a 40-hour induction training course on job search, communication, and workplace discipline, if they have not received similar training before. In the first year of the YWETS, about 5 000 trainees attended the induction training courses.

5.22 The participating employers are paid a monthly training subsidy of $2,000 for each trainee engaged. They are also provided with a range of support services such as formulation of training plans and training of mentors. As at the end of December 2002, over 2 300 employers offered about 9 500 training vacancies under the YWETS, and over 6 000 trainees secured employment. To upgrade their vocational skills, the trainees are encouraged to enrol in relevant vocational training courses on an off-the-job basis. They are entitled to reimbursement of course and examination fees up to a maximum of $4,000 if they pass the vocational examination or achieve a 90 per cent course attendance rate.

5.23 Special projects tailor-made for individual industries have been organised under the YWETS so as to enhance the employment opportunities of trainees. They include the 'IT Seeds Project' to train IT assistants for schools, 'Travel Pioneers Project' to train customer representatives and ticketing staff for tour operators and travel agents, 'Airport Ambassadors Project' to train customer service officers for the international airport, and a special project organised in collaboration with the Arts Development Council to develop manpower for the artistic and creative industries. New projects in the pipeline include a 'Sports Instructor Trainees Scheme' jointly organised with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and a pilot project to place the more vulnerable trainees in non-government organisations for youth-related work.

5.24 We have appointed the Department of Applied Social Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to develop performance indicators and evaluate the effectiveness of the YWETS. The work embraces mid-term and overall reviews, longitudinal surveys and a series of thematic studies. The study will be useful to the Government in the formulation and review on policies on youth training and employment.

5.25 In 2002, we continued with the YPTP with 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, self-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 training places for trainees to obtain practical work experience and better understand the world of work. Professional youth workers are available to provide careers counselling and support services throughout the programme. In the new phase of the programme, a number of training courses geared to market needs were added and careers counselling and support services were also strengthened.

5.26 We operate two careers information centres that function as information banks for young people and careers teachers. Each centre has a reference library with 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 2002, we received 29 992 visitors and handled 41 288 consultations.

5.27 To provide young people with first-hand careers information, we organised a variety of careers activities in 2002, with a record number of 974 675 participants. Figure 5.13

5.28 We jointly organised the Education and Careers Expo with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for the 12th time in 2002 to provide the latest information on careers development and further education options. There were 343 participating exhibitors from a wide range of trades, government departments and professional bodies, as well as local and overseas educational and training institutes. The event attracted 194 189 visitors and proved to be the most popular careers information event in Hong Kong.

5.29 In collaboration with the Education Department, we organised a comprehensive service package for Form 5 school leavers to provide them with a full range of counselling and information on careers and further education opportunities. A hotline, chat room service and a dedicated advisory centre were set up and two talks were held around the announcement of the HKCEE results. In addition, we staged seven roving exhibitions on education and careers opportunities throughout the territory, attracting about 13 200 visitors. More than 100 000 copies of a tailor-made careers handbook were distributed through various means.

5.30 We continued to conduct school-based careers activities and promote summer job-seekers' awareness of employment traps and work safety. Two part-time certificate courses were organised for in-service careers masters in the 2002/2003 school year in collaboration with the Education Department.

5.31 We monitor the operation of employment agencies through licensing, inspection and investigation of complaints. In 2002, 1 489 employment agency licences were issued. Six licences were revoked, one application for renewal of licence and one application for issue of licence refused. A total of 1 308 enforcement inspections was made to employment agencies. At the end of 2002, there were 1 447 licensed employment agencies in Hong Kong.

5.32 We regulate employment outside territory to safeguard the interests of local employees engaged by enforcing the contracts for Employment Outside Hong Kong Ordinance.

5.33 To cater for the genuine needs of employers, a Supplementary Labour Scheme that allows the entry of imported workers to take up jobs at the technician level or below and which cannot be filled locally, is administered by the Labour Department. It 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 2002, there were 1 242 imported workers in Hong Kong.

5.34 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.