LCQ16: Supporting employment of elderly and middle-aged persons
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Question:
To support the employment of elderly persons, the Labour Department has implemented the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged (EPEM) to provide employers with on-the-job training allowance to encourage them to engage unemployed job seekers aged 40 or above. On supporting the employment of elderly and middle-aged persons, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of employers involved in the placements eligible for joining the EPEM in the past five years;
(2) whether it will formulate performance indicators for the EPEM, such as setting separate targets for the participation rates of persons aged 40 to 59, 60 to 64 and 65 or above in the total labour force, and review in a timely manner the effectiveness of the EPEM in promoting the employment of elderly and middle-aged job seekers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) whether it will allocate additional resources to enhance the existing measures to support the employment of elderly and middle-aged persons and provide targeted employment support, including organising different types of thematic job fairs (e.g. job fairs on part-time jobs specially designed for elderly and middle-aged persons), enhancing employment training for elderly persons, as well as providing personalised employment counselling and job-matching services, thereby assisting elderly and middle-aged persons in re-entering the workforce in a holistic manner; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4) whether it will consider drawing reference from the practices of neighbouring countries and formulating, by way of legislation, guidelines for employers on the re-employment of elderly persons, as well as designing suitable job types and setting remuneration according to the abilities of elderly persons, thereby regulating the responsibility of enterprises in employing elderly staff; 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) to encourage employers to hire persons aged 40 or above, and provide them with on-the-job training (OJT). Employers engaging job seekers aged 60 or above who are unemployed or have left the workforce and providing them with OJT will receive a maximum OJT allowance of $5,000 per month per employee for six to 12 months; while engaging unemployed job seekers aged 40 to 59 will receive a maximum OJT allowance of $4,000 per month per employee for three to six months.
In response to the Member's question, the reply is provided as follows:
(1) From 2020 to 2024, the EPEM recorded respectively 2 260, 3 340, 2 707, 3 873 and 4 443 eligible placements in each year, involving 937, 1 266, 1 169, 1 420 and 1 559 employers.
(2) and (3) The LD is committed to providing diversified employment services to promote the employment of elderly and middle-aged persons. The ten job centres of the LD provides elderly and middle-aged persons with employment support and dedicated services, including priority job referral service, employment briefings. Employment officers of the centres also provide personalised employment advisory and job matching services, as well as information on training/re-training courses to them. Moreover, the LD has set up the Dedicated Webpage for Elderly Job Seekers and the Dedicated Webpage on Part-time Jobs on the Interactive Employment Service website, so as to facilitate elderly and middle-aged persons to obtain the latest employment information and search for suitable vacancies.
To tie in with the target of unleashing "silver productivity" put forth by the Working Group on Promoting Silver Economy, the LD will stage about 60 large-scale or district-based thematic job fairs suitable for elderly and middle-aged persons in 2025, doubling the number of fairs compared to last year. Elderly and middle-aged job seekers can submit job applications and attend interviews on the spot to expedite the job seeking process.
The LD launched the three-year Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme (REA Scheme) on July 15, 2024 to encourage persons aged 40 or above, who have not been in paid work for three consecutive months or more, to join the employment market. As at June 2025, over 45 000 participants and nearly 23 000 placements were recorded, far exceeding the original target of benefiting 6 000 employed persons during the three-year implementation period. Of which, about one quarter of the participants and placements involved persons aged 60 or above. The LD welcomes employers taking on the participants of the REA Scheme to join the EPEM.
The LD will conduct a mid-term review on the REA Scheme in the first quarter of 2026, along with the EPEM, to explore further measures to encourage the employment of elderly and middle-aged persons.
As the number of placements may be affected by various factors such as the economy, labour market situation and the personal circumstances of job seekers, it is inappropriate to set key performance indicators for the labour force participation rate.
(4) The Government has been encouraging employers to follow the principle of "Count on Talent, Not Age in Employment" and, having regard to the individual circumstances of their enterprises, to adopt elderly-friendly employment practices such as extending the working life of employees, providing flexible work arrangements, fostering an environment conducive to elderly employment, so as to facilitate more older persons to stay in or rejoin the labour market.
The LD will continue to conduct publicity and promotional activities as well as implement employment programmes to encourage employers to hire elderly and middle-aged persons. Owing to the varied considerations and circumstances of enterprises in recruiting staff, the Government currently has no plan to regulate the employment of older employees through legislation.
Ends/Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Issued at HKT 11:52
Issued at HKT 11:52
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