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During a visit to a recruitment event under the Aircraft Maintenance Craftsman Trainee (AMCT) Programme today (July 18), the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, encouraged young people to have broader vision and make good use of various pre-employment training opportunities to build their professional career path through on-the-job training.
"Under the Youth Employment and Training Programme (YETP), the Labour Department has been working closely with training organisations to tailor-make training-cum-employment projects for employers of different industries. These projects offer more on-the-job training opportunities, leading to promising careers for young people, and help employers identify talents and recruit new blood, providing a win-win situation for all," said Mr Cheung.
"The AMCT Programme has become one of the regular programmes under the YETP. Twenty-seven on-the-job training classes have been held and more than 420 trainees aged between 15 and 24 have been recruited, with many potential trainees groomed since 2006.
"The aviation industry is one of the sectors with huge demand for manpower in Hong Kong. Aircraft maintenance plays an important role in supporting Hong Kong's position as an international aviation hub. As Hong Kong International Airport has become increasingly busy, the aircraft maintenance industry has keen demand for new blood."
Today's AMCT Programme recruitment day is jointly organised by the YETP of the Labour Department, Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions Occupational Retraining Centre, offering 100 vacancies for the post of Aircraft Maintenance Craftsman Trainee.
Mr Cheung added, "Upon completion of a free pre-employment training course, trainees who have good performance will be engaged as employees and undergo on-the-job training for the first 12 months. They will be promoted as craftsmen afterwards. In future, they may pursue further education to acquire relevant professional qualifications in aircraft engineering.
"In order to encourage employers to provide more jobs with on-the-job training for the YETP and to employ young people who have not yet accumulated sufficient experience, the Labour Department has raised the allowance payable to employers providing on-the-job training under YETP to $3,000. The allowance payable to trainees who have completed workplace attachments has also been raised."
Mr Cheung noted that the construction industry in Hong Kong is entering a golden decade with a host of major infrastructure projects coming on stream, while the ageing population also offers career development opportunities in the care industry. He appealed to young people to consider industries other than traditional white collar jobs when they plan for their career.
Ends/Thursday, July 18, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:05
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