LCQ15: Importation of labour
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Question:
There are views that the Government has successively introduced the sector-specific labour importation schemes and the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) to expand the importation of labour. While its original policy intent was to supplement the workforce and alleviate manpower shortages across various sectors, unemployment rates in certain sectors have risen recently. Nevertheless, the aforesaid schemes continue to be implemented, thereby reducing job opportunities for local workers. In this connection, will the government inform this Council:
(1) of the trend in the number of workers imported under the aforesaid two schemes since 2023, and the current latest number of imported workers;
(2) of the respective monthly changes in the number of approved quotas and the number of quotas used under the Labour Importation Scheme for the Construction Sector, the Labour Importation Scheme for the Aviation Sector and the Labour Importation Scheme for the Transport Sector - Public Light Bus/Coach Trade since their implementation; the corresponding monthly unemployment rates for such sectors;
(3) whether, since the implementation of the sector-specific labour importation schemes, the authorities have reduced the approved quotas in response to changes in the prevailing economic situation when vetting and approving such quotas; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) given that the exclusion of the 26 job categories as well as unskilled or low-skilled posts from labour importation under the Supplementary Labour Scheme was suspended following the implementation of the ESLS on September 4, 2023, of the respective monthly changes in the number of approved quotas and the number of quotas used for the 26 job categories since the implementation of the ESLS; the respective corresponding monthly unemployment rates for such job categories during the same period;
(5) whether there are measures currently in place to ensure that, should the unemployment rate or underemployment situation of local workers in the relevant sectors deteriorate, the authorities will promptly adjust labour importation measures for those sectors in order to safeguard the employment priority for local workers;
(6) whether it has considered establishing a "tiered exit mechanism" under the sector-specific labour importation schemes and the ESLS, whereby a phased reduction in the labour importation quotas under these two schemes would be triggered if the overall operating environment of a specific local sector deteriorates beyond a certain threshold, or if the unemployment rate and underemployment rate of its workers worsen by a specific percentage, in order to lessen the impact on local workers in the relevant sectors; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(7) whether it has considered linking the total number of workers admitted to work in Hong Kong with the overall local unemployment rate (i.e. when the number of unemployed local workers increases, the labour importation quota will be correspondingly tightened), so as to safeguard the employment priority for local workers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The priority of the Government's manpower policy all along is to nurture local workforce. On the premise of ensuring employment priority for local workers, the Government suitably allows employers to apply for importation of workers. To cope with the challenges brought by manpower shortage, the Government has enhanced the mechanism for importation of labour. On June 19, 2023, the Labour and Welfare Bureau introduced the Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes (Special Scheme) for the residential care home sector. On July 17, 2023, the Development Bureau (DEVB) and the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB) respectively launched sector-specific labour importation schemes for the construction and transport sectors (including aviation industry and public light bus/coach trade). In addition, the Labour Department (LD) has implemented the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) since September 4, 2023 to suspend the general exclusion of the 26 job categories as well as unskilled or low-skilled posts from labour importation under the previous Supplementary Labour Scheme for two years.
In consultation with the DEVB, the TLB, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) and the Immigration Department, the reply to the Member's question is as follows:
(1) The number of imported workers approved and cumulative number of imported workers arrived in Hong Kong in the past three years under the various labour importation schemes are at Annex 1.
(2) and (3) The Labour Importation Scheme for the Construction Sector (Construction Sector Scheme) accepts applications on a quarterly basis (generally in the months of January, April, July, and October). Applicants generally apply for importing workers for work activities that will commence in the coming months, on the condition that they can demonstrate that local recruitment efforts, conducted as required, have failed to employ sufficient local workers. Launched by DEVB in July 2023, the Construction Sector Scheme allocates quotas on a rolling basis, i.e., quotas will be released for new applications after the completion of the relevant work activities. Therefore, it is more appropriate to present the cumulative number of approved valid quotas at different times since the launch of the scheme, which were 9 176 in July 2024 and 9 056 in mid-June 2025.
In 2023 and 2024, the unemployment rate in the construction sector remained at approximately 4 per cent. In the first half of 2025, there was an increase in the overall unemployment rate in the construction sector, involving primarily general workers. The main reason was reduction in the volume of private sector projects, particularly private renovation and maintenance projects. The Construction Sector Scheme, however, only allows importation of skilled workers and does not include general workers.
Since the launch of the Construction Sector Scheme in July 2023, the number of local skilled workers participating in construction works has been on an upward trend. While there has been a slight decrease in the past three months, the number remained higher than that before the launch of the scheme.
The Labour Importation Scheme for the Transport Sector – Aviation Industry (Aviation Scheme) opened for three rounds of applications in July 2023, March 2024, and March 2025 respectively. The number of approved quotas is at Annex 1.
The quota ceiling for the Aviation Scheme is 6 300. In setting this ceiling, the Government had taken into consideration the turnover of around 20 000 airport staff during the pandemic. Timely replenishment of these vacancies is particularly crucial for the recovery of Hong Kong's aviation industry. With the commissioning of the Three-Runway System last year, the demand for airport manpower is expected to further increase. In fact, the current number of airport staff has increased from 53 000 in the initial post-pandemic period to 68 000, with over 70 per cent of the newly-added airport staff being local workers. Overall speaking, relevant employers utilise the approved quotas for importation of labour according to the established procedures after each round of application. As at May 2025, a total of 4 162 imported workers had commenced work in Hong Kong under the Aviation Scheme.
The Government announced the Labour Importation Scheme for the Transport Sector – Public Light Bus (PLB)/Coach Trade (Transport Scheme) in June 2023. Through two rounds of applications in September 2023 and July 2024 respectively, a total of 900 quotas for PLB drivers and 800 quotas for coach drivers were approved. Imported drivers must pass the relevant vehicle type driving test, complete a pre-employment training course and receive its certification before they can obtain a formal driving license for the relevant vehicle type. Operators also provide sufficient route training to imported drivers before they commence services. As at May 2025, a total of 1 494 imported drivers had been deployed to services after passing local driving tests and undergoing relevant route training. In addition, 80 imported drivers are currently undergoing training in Hong Kong and will be arranged to provide services on relevant routes upon completion of their training. Given the industry's continued demand for manpower, the Transport Scheme has helped alleviate the manpower shortage, supplement the required workforce and ensure stable supply of public transport services.
The unemployment rates in the construction sector and transportation sector since the first quarter of 2023 are at Annex 2.
The C&SD does not compile the unemployment rate for PLB/coach trade under the transportation industry. Besides, as unemployment statistics for the air transport sector under the transportation industry are compiled based on a small number of observations and subject to very large sampling errors, the statistics for this specific sector are not released.
(4) As at May 31, 2025, a breakdown of the number of imported workers approved by the 26 job categories, unskilled or low-skilled posts and other posts under the ESLS is at Annex 3. The C&SD does not compile statistics on unemployment rate by job categories under the ESLS.
(5) The Government has been committed to safeguarding employment priority for local workers in implementing the labour importation schemes. Applicant employers of respective labour importation schemes must undertake local open recruitment and accord priority to employing suitable local workers to fill the vacancies at a salary not lower than the prevailing median monthly wage of a comparable position in the market. In parallel, employers approved to import workers are required to sign a Standard Employment Contract with imported workers, and shall pay a salary not lower than the median monthly wage of a comparable position to prevent the imported workers from becoming "cheap labour" and undermining the employment opportunities of local workers.
Under the Special Scheme, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare will make timely adjustments to the overall quotas, as well as the number of quotas in and the pace of releasing each batch of allocation under the Special Scheme, with a view to responding flexibly and swiftly to changes in the supply of and demand for manpower in the Residential Care Home sector.
The Government has all along adopted a multi-pronged approach to address manpower demands in the construction sector, focusing on enhancing training and promoting the use of technology to uplift productivity and mitigate labour shortages. The Construction Sector Scheme is a complementary measure whereby main contractors and subcontractor employers must conduct local recruitment as required and demonstrate that they are unable to employ sufficient local workers before their applications are considered. All imported workers must also comply with the same qualification and job requirements, median wages, and other conditions as local workers in similar positions. These measures are designed to safeguard the employment priority of local workers. When processing each application, the DEVB scrutinises whether the applicant has conducted local recruitment as per the requirements of the Government and failed to employ the required skilled workers, whether there is genuine need for importing skilled workers for the project taking into consideration factors including project progress, the demand for each relevant trade and its manpower situation, as well as the overall labour market situation before determining whether to approve quotas.
Regarding the Aviation Scheme, on the premise of safeguarding employment priority for local workers, employers must prove that they have made efforts in recruiting local workers but are still insufficient to meet the manpower needs for business expansion before applying for imported workers. The salaries offered for posts under local recruitment must not be lower than the median wage for the applied posts, and must comply with the manning ratio requirement of full-time local employees to imported workers (including those imported through other schemes) of 2:1. Besides, when vetting each application for labour importation, the TLB considers factors such as business scale and development needs of the applicant employers, their importance to airport operations, and any past adverse record regarding importing labour to ensure that the applications comply with all requirements under the Scheme for safeguarding local employment, thereby performing the gatekeeping role properly. In addition to measures on labour importation, the Government has maintained close liaison and communication with the Airport Authority Hong Kong and the aviation industry, and has implemented a series of measures, including organising career days and job fairs in collaboration with the industry and enhancing the welfare of airport staff, to support the continued development of the aviation industry.
Regarding the Transport Scheme, the TLB and the Transport Department (TD) have consistently encouraged the industry to accord priority to employing local drivers. In addition, employers hiring imported drivers must comply with the manning ratio requirement of full-time local employees to imported workers of 2:1 on a continuous basis. In implementing the Scheme, the TD established a stakeholder consultative group with representatives from the TD, the labour sector and the PLB/coach industries for information exchange and mutual communication, such as providing advice on matters related to the labour importation scheme. Employers can also use this platform to provide job vacancy information to relevant labour representatives, enabling them to assist in identifying interested local job seekers for applications.
In addition, the TD has all along been encouraging operators to improve local staff salaries and benefits through various means, such as increasing wages and paid leave, to create a better working environment and attract more new talent to the industry. On the other hand, with the assistance of the TD and the Employees Retraining Board (ERB), the ERB, in collaboration with PLB operators and third-party training organisations, jointly launched the "Placement-tied Driving Training Scheme" in December 2024, piloting it with the green minibus trade to encourage local individuals to join the PLB trade. The first batch of trainees who completed the training course and obtained the required driving licenses began providing services on relevant green minibus routes in the second quarter of 2025.
As for the ESLS, the LD conducts job matching for all local open recruitment vacancies, refers local job seekers to employers for interviews, and widely disseminates vacancy information to members of the Labour Advisory Board, relevant trade unions and training institutions to facilitate their referrals of suitable local job seekers for applications. The ESLS also requires employers not to displace local workers with imported workers. In the event of redundancy, imported workers should be retrenched first. If there is sufficient evidence to substantiate any violation of the requirement, the LD will impose administrative sanctions on the employers, including withdrawal of approvals for importation of labour previously granted and refusal to process other applications submitted by the employers in the following two years. To strengthen the protection of employment priority for local workers, the LD implemented new measures on June 17, 2025, including displaying the names of applicant companies when publishing the job vacancies on the Interactive Employment Service website for applications of the ESLS which pass the initial screening and will commence the four-week local recruitment process after that date to facilitate job seekers to apply for the jobs.
(6) and (7) Hong Kong faces a structural labour force shrinkage owing to population ageing. According to the population projection for 2046, population ageing is expected to continue; the number of elderly persons aged 65 and over is projected to nearly double over the 25-year period, increasing from 1.45 million in 2021 to 2.74 million in 2046. The corresponding proportion of the population is projected to increase from 20.5 per cent to 36.0 per cent. The Report on 2023 Manpower Projection published last year indicated that due to an ageing workforce and a lack of new entrants, it is expected that by 2028, the supply of local manpower will be insufficient to fill all vacancies, resulting in a widening manpower shortage of 180 000, an increase of 130 000 from 2023. In face of the dwindling workforce and on the premise of ensuring employment priority for local workers, Hong Kong needs to suitably allows for importation of workers to replenish our labour force.
For the aviation industry, the Report on 2023 Manpower Projection expected that by 2028, the manpower shortage in the aviation industry of Hong Kong will increase to around 18 000 to 23 000. With regard to the continued increase in manpower demands in the aviation industry and on the premise of employment priority for local workers, there remains a need to supplement the aviation industry's workforce through labour importation. The Government will continue to monitor the implementation of the Aviation Scheme, taking into account various relevant factors such as the new round of airport manpower surveys and stakeholders' opinions, to consider the way forward of the Aviation Scheme.
For the PLB/coach trade, according to the preliminary results of a public transport manpower study in 2023 and ongoing discussions with the industry, although the Transport Scheme has helped alleviate the shortage of manpower, it has not fully resolved the problem faced by the industry, affecting the industry in providing quality services to passengers. The TLB and the TD will review the implementation of the Transport Scheme and continue to assess the manpower needs of the industry for the coming years.
The LD is reviewing the ESLS, including its coverage, operation and implementation arrangements, measures to promote and ensure employment priority for local workers, measures to protect the rights and benefits of imported workers, as well as other requirements and matters relating to the ESLS. The Government will take full account of and balance the views of stakeholders when mapping out the way forward.
The Government will continue to closely monitor changes in the local labour market and the manpower situation of different industries, and from time to time review the operation and implementation arrangements of the sector-specific labour importation schemes and the ESLS to strive to safeguard employment priority for local workers.
Ends/Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Issued at HKT 18:08
Issued at HKT 18:08
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