Following is a question by the Revd Canon Hon Peter Douglas Koon and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (May 10):

Question:

     The Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged (EPEM) of the Labour Department (LD) aims at encouraging employers to engage unemployed job seekers aged 40 or above in full-time or part-time long-term job vacancies and provide the job seekers with on-the-job training ("OJT") through the provision of training allowance to employers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of employers involved in the placements eligible for joining the EPEM in the past year;

(2) given that enhancement measures were introduced for the EPEM in September 2020 to raise the ceiling of OJT allowance payable to employers under the EPEM, of the number of placements eligible for joining the EPEM since the introduction of the enhancement measures and, among them, the respective numbers of the cases where OJT allowance has been applied and granted;

(3) when the Government will review the effectiveness of the EPEM and consider increasing the OJT allowance payable to employers in order to attract the participation by more organisations; whether it will further enhance the support measures under the EPEM in the light of the large number of unemployed persons as a result of the fifth wave of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(4) whether it will consider using big data to analyse the information registered by unemployed job seekers at the LD (e.g. age, academic qualifications, skills and previous working experience), thereby assisting such persons in job-matching, improving the effectiveness of the EPEM, as well as planning for the database on future manpower resources; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The Labour Department (LD) implements the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged (EPEM) which provides on-the-job training (OJT) allowance to employers, so as to encourage them to engage the elderly and middle-aged persons, and provide them with OJT. Since September 2020, the LD has raised the ceiling of the amount of OJT allowance under the EPEM. Employers engaging job seekers aged 60 or above who are unemployed or have left the workforce and providing them with OJT can receive a maximum allowance of $5,000 per month per eligible employee for a period of six to 12 months. For those engaging unemployed job seekers aged 40 to 59, the maximum amount of allowance is $4,000 per month per eligible employee for a period of three to six months.

     My reply to the Revd Canon Hon Peter Douglas Koon's question is provided as follows:

(1) In 2022, the LD recorded 2 707 placements eligible for joining the EPEM, involving 1 169 employers.

(2) Since the ceiling of the amount of OJT allowance was raised in September 2020, 7 835 placements eligible for joining the EPEM were recorded as at March 2023. During the same period, 3 015 applications for OJT allowance were made and approved.

(3) and (4) The LD closely monitors the implementation of the EPEM and conducts surveys continuously to collect the views of employers and employees. Since the ceiling of the amount of OJT allowance was raised in September 2020, there has been a notable increase in the number of placements eligible for joining the EPEM. From time to time, the LD reviews the implementation of the EPEM and explores enhancement measures timely in the light of the employment market situation and the views of stakeholders.

     Apart from the EPEM, the LD also makes reference to the data and views of registered job seekers in providing targeted employment support, including organising various thematic job fairs, for instance, job fairs for the elderly and middle-aged and on part-time jobs; setting up dedicated webpages on the Interactive Employment Service (iES) website, etc., to facilitate job seekers to search for suitable vacancies. Apart from receiving job vacancy information through the iES website and its mobile application, job seekers can also receive personalised employment advisory and job matching services from employment officers of the LD for assisting them in securing employment.

     The LD will continue to review and enhance employment measures timely taking account of the employment needs of the elderly and middle-aged persons.

Ends/Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Issued at HKT 11:05

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