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The Government has invested substantially in training and job creation programmes in recent years, in an effort to improve employment prospects for people of different age groups and academic qualifications.
Speaking at the opening of the Neighbourhood & Worker's Service Centre today (July 13), the Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour (Labour), Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said that the Government was very concerned about unemployment and had been taking active steps to ease the problem all along.
"In May, the Government put forward a package costing $432 million to provide some 21,500 short-term employment and training opportunities. This is to ease the impact of SARS," Mr Cheung said.
"In June, the Government proposed an additional allocation of $715 million to create a further 32,000 short-term jobs and training vacancies. Altogether, 53,500 employment and training opportunities have been provided in less than two months."
He noted that easing unemployment required the collective efforts of the community. Collaboration with non-government organisations and community groups had not only created jobs, but also reinforced social cohesion and community building. The Government has seized the opportunity to re-equip and upgrade workers affected by SARS to enhance their employability.
"We have greatly enhanced our services to job-seekers. One-stop employment service is provided free at all the 11 job centres of the Labour Department. Job-seekers can use the modern facilities there to complete the whole job-search process, including the search for suitable vacancies, writing resumes and submitting applications. The department's interactive employment service also provides up-to-date information on vacancies and employment on the Internet," he said.
Mr Cheung pointed out that special tailor-made training and employment programmes had been launched for job-seekers of different age groups.
"Since 1999, the Labour Department has implemented the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme to provide comprehensive pre-employment training and workplace attachment to school-leavers aged 15 to 19 to enhance their employability. The programme trained more than 35,000 youngsters in the past three years, with positive response from the community. The successful placement rate stood at 70%, and this is encouraging," he said.
"To better serve our young people, we launched the Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme last July. The original aim of the scheme was to provide on-the-job training opportunities over two years for 10,000 young people aged between 15 and 24 without degrees to enhance their work experience and vocational skills. However, as at the end of June this year, already more than 11,000 participants had secured jobs through the scheme."
"To strengthen our support for job-seekers, the Government has also earmarked about $100 million for three new employment initiatives this year, namely the Re-employment Training Programme for the Middle-aged (RTP), District Employment Programme for the Middle-aged (DEP) and Graduate Employment Training Scheme (GETS)," he continued.
"The RTP encourages employers to offer on-the-job training to the middle-aged unemployed. The employer will receive a training allowance of $1,500 per month for each RTP participant employed for three months. We expect the programme to benefit some 12,000 job-seekers."
"The department has also joined hands with eight member organisations of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to run the DEP in areas where unemployment among the middle-aged is more serious, and help them find jobs in the vicinity of their homes. We will explore new job opportunities for DEP participants through networking by these non-government organisations, particularly in canvassing vacancies from employers who seldom use our recruitment service. About 1,500 people are expected to secure jobs through the programme."
"The GETS is introduced to encourage employers to hire university graduates and provide them with on-the-job training. This is to help them gain work experience and improve their employability. Participating employers will be paid a monthly training allowance of $2,000 for each trainee engaged for a maximum of six months. The scheme will be launched in August/September this year."
While noting that the solution to unemployment in the long run lay in the overall revival of the economy, Mr Cheung stressed that the Government had adopted various measures to stimulate economic development and create employment opportunities.
End/Sunday, July 13, 2003
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