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Talents were the key to the future employment market in face of competition brought by globalisation, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, has said. He called on local employers to help nurture young people to pave the way for robust development in Hong Kong.
Speaking at the 2007-08 Youth Pre-employment Training Programme (YPTP) and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme (YWETS) joint application launch ceremony today (July 25), Mr Cheung said that the Government had all along attached importance to tripartite co-operation on labour issues.
The launching of the YPTP and YWETS was an example of "tripartite-plus" collaboration among the Government, employers, employees and training institutions in promoting youth employment.
Mr Cheung said the presentation of awards to the "Most Improved Trainees of YPTP and YWETS", caring employers and training bodies in commendation of their efforts in the last training period would encourage people from different sectors to join in enhancing youth employment.
The YPTP and YWETS aimed to improve the employability and competitiveness of youngsters. The two programmes, which were introduced through cross collaboration, were highly commended and had become the largest youth pre-employment and on-the-job training and employment programme respectively.
Since the launching of the two programmes, 80,000 young people had been trained under the YPTP while 50,000 had secured employment under the YWETS, he said.
Mr Cheung stressed that there were sufficient training places to accommodate all eligible applicants in the coming year.
"The Government will continue to enhance the quality of the workforce and nurture talent in a multi-pronged way through education, training and the promotion of life-long learning," he said.
Recently, the youth employment situation had improved notably. The unemployment rate for youngsters aged between 15 and 24 for the period from April to June this year had dropped 1.3% from 10.5% to 9.2% while the number of unemployed youth had decreased by 4,500 to 35,000 compared with the same period last year.
"Although there are significant improvements in the employment market, the Government understands that low-skill and low-education-level job-seekers still have difficulties in securing a job. The Government will leave no stone unturned and will continue to enhance and co-ordinate related services in a bid to assist job-seekers to find a job," Mr Cheung said.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Commissioner for Labour, Mrs Cherry Tse Ling Kit-ching, said that the YPTP and YWETS were two major initiatives of the Government to promote youth employment. The programmes provided adequate employment assistance for youngsters, particularly the new batch of graduates who join the labour market.
"This year, to encourage more young people to receive pre-employment training so as to enhance their employability, trainees are entitled to a transport allowance should they complete a YPTP modular course or the induction course of YWETS.
"In addition, to enhance support for youth employment, the Labour Department will set up two 'Youth Employment Resource Centres' in the fourth quarter of this year to provide one-stop comprehensive services on career counselling, skills enhancement and support for self-employment for young people aged between 15 and 29," she said.
Joint application of YPTP and YWETS 2007-08 (Phase I) is now open to young people aged 15 to 24 free of charge.
Application forms for the two programmes can be obtained from the department's YPTP and YWETS offices, Careers Information Centre and Job Centres; designated training bodies; Public Enquiry Service Centres of the Home Affairs Department and District Offices of the Social Welfare Department or downloaded from the Youth Employment Services website at www.yes.labour.gov.hk.
The Labour Department has also set up a special Youth Employment Services hotline, 2112 9932, to provide one-stop enquiry service on the two programmes and to receive training vacancies from employers.
Ends/Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:31
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