Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Pui-kong and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (April 1):
 
Question:
 
     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government launched the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme (the Scheme) on a pilot basis in 2021 and regularised the Scheme with enhancement measures in 2023. As the Scheme has entered the stage of regular implementation and involved substantial public expenditure, it is learnt that the community has expressed concern about the use of public funds under the Scheme and the sustainability of its effectiveness. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the specific verification and monitoring mechanism put in place by the authorities to ensure that young people receiving allowance actually take up full-time employment in eligible posts in Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in accordance with the requirements of the Scheme, so as to prevent situations contrary to its eligibility criteria, such as "remote working", "normally stationing in Hong Kong" or "bogus employment";
 
(2) whether the authorities have formulated a regular review and verification mechanism targeting at the information on applications submitted by organisations participating in the Scheme (participating organisations) to ensure its accuracy, thereby forestalling situations such as falsifying the number of young people hired, fabricating job duties or defrauding public funds; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) of the number of on-site inspections or document vetting conducted by the authorities since the launch of the Scheme on participating organisations and the young people hired as the specific targets; the number of non-compliant cases identified, the amount of allowance recovered, and the penalties imposed on non-compliant enterprises and individuals, with a breakdown by type of non-‍compliant act;
 
(4) whether the authorities have set specific and quantifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of the Scheme; if so, of the specific details of such KPIs and the extent to which they have been fulfilled in the past two years; if not, the reasons for that, and how the authorities account to the public as to whether the public funds involved in the Scheme have been put to proper use;
 
(5) as it is learnt that at present, the number of job vacancies under the Scheme is greater than the rate of job applications, whether the authorities will consider relaxing the upper age limit for participation in the Scheme from 29 to 35, so as to broaden the coverage of the Scheme;
 
(6) apart from commissioning a consultant to conduct a "longitudinal study" on the Scheme, whether the authorities have put in place a systematic mechanism to track the long-term employment trends of young people who have completed the 18-month on-‍the-job training; if so, of the data collected under the mechanism and the specific findings of the data analyses; if not, whether they will establish a relevant mechanism to collect information for the purpose of enhancing the Scheme and following up the employment development of these young people; and
 
(7) as it is learnt that problems have arisen since the launch of the Scheme, such as applying for allowance despite non-compliance, a relatively high rate of premature departure among the young people concerned, or the failure of certain posts to effectively promote talent exchange, of the specific enhancement measures implemented or planned for implementation by the authorities to address the above problems, thereby plugging monitoring loopholes and enhancing the effective use of public funds while ensuring that the Scheme can genuinely achieve its policy objectives of promoting the integration of Hong Kong young people into GBA for development and fostering talent exchange within the region?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Government launched the pilot Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme (the pilot scheme) in 2021 and has regularised the scheme (regularised scheme) since 2023, encouraging enterprises to employ Hong Kong young people to work in the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in accordance with Hong Kong laws. Starting from January 2025, the Labour Department (LD) has relaxed the eligibility requirements for joining the scheme to include young people aged 29 or below with sub-degree or higher qualifications, and increased the allowance limit for employers to HK$12,000 per month per young person for up to 18 months. In tandem, the scheme has implemented the Arrangements for Mainland Youth to Work in Hong Kong under the GBA Youth Employment Scheme to allow enterprises taking on Hong Kong young people to work in the GBA Mainland cities to apply for the same number of Mainland young people to work in Hong Kong in accordance with relevant requirements, so as to foster talent exchange in the GBA.
 
     My reply to the question raised by the Member is as follows:

(1) to (3) The LD has established a monitoring mechanism for the scheme to ensure that enterprises comply with Hong Kong laws and the scheme's requirements. The Guidelines for Participating Enterprises of the scheme stipulates that enterprises must submit job vacancies to the LD for vetting. The enterprises must arrange the employed young people to work at the premises of the enterprises in the GBA Mainland cities for at least 30 hours per week. During the allowance period, the enterprises in general may only deploy the employed young people to work in Hong Kong or other provinces/ cities in the Mainland outside the GBA for a maximum of six months.  Participating enterprises must strictly adhere to the terms and conditions set out in the Guidelines for Participating Enterprises, otherwise the allowance will not be disbursed. 

     The LD vets all job vacancies under the scheme, and examines the work and wages records, etc. of the employed young people in the GBA pursuant to a risk-based principle. If an enterprise violates Hong Kong laws or the requirements of the scheme, the LD will stop processing or reject the relevant allowance applications and recover the allowance already disbursed. If non-compliance with the law is involved, the LD will refer the cases to other law enforcement departments for follow‑up.

     From 2021 to 2025, the pilot scheme and the regularised scheme recorded a total of 2 833 employment cases. During the same period, the LD conducted random spot checks on about 1 400 employment cases, and investigated 90 cases suspected of non-compliance and/ or complaints. Among the 77 cases for which investigation had been completed, 16 cases, involving a total of 14 employers, were found to have breached the scheme's requirements. After the LD's follow‑up, seven employers have rectified and complied with the relevant rules, five employers' applications for allowance have been rejected, and the remaining two employers have returned the approved allowance. Besides, the LD has referred seven suspected cases involving the provision of false information, documents forgery or fraud to the Hong Kong Police Force for follow-up.

(4) to (7) The LD proactively promotes and publicises the scheme, including liaising with trade associations, enterprises associations, the LD's industry-based tripartite committees and human resources associations to introduce the scheme and appeal to enterprises to offer job vacancies. The LD also facilitates job matching through organising large-scale job fairs and briefing sessions annually, and participating in recruitment activities and talks organised by trade associations, enterprises associations and tertiary institutions. 

     The LD has also commissioned service providers to provide support for the employed young people to undergo exchange and study in the Mainland, and to strengthen their understanding of the development of the country and the GBA. Under the pilot scheme and the regularised scheme in 2023, a total of 1 809 young people were employed, among which 946 (52.3 per cent) completed the 18-month on-the-job training. In 2024 and 2025, a total of 1 024 young people were employed under the regularised scheme, and some of them are still undergoing on-the-job training. The LD will compile the data on their completion of on-the-job training in due course.

     Participating enterprises and employed young people generally acknowledge that the scheme has facilitated the employed young people in establishing interpersonal networks in the Mainland, and broadening their understanding of the living, work culture and business environment in the Mainland. To further understand the employment situation of the employed young people (including tracking their employment situation after the completion of the allowance period), the LD has commissioned a consultant to conduct a 3-year "longitudinal study" of the scheme since March 2024 to carry out follow-up surveys on participating enterprises and young people, gathering their opinions on the scheme. Upon completion of the "longitudinal study", the LD will review the results in detail, and consider whether further data collection and analysis are required for evaluating the effectiveness of the scheme, including whether the current age limit for joining the scheme is appropriate.  

     Since the implementation of the enhancement measures, the numbers of job vacancies and employed young people recorded in 2025 have increased by 24.5 per cent and 45.6 per cent respectively when compared with those in 2024. As job vacancies offered by enterprises and the employment situation of young people are affected by factors such as the economy and labour market, it is not appropriate to formulate "key performance indicators" for the scheme.

     The LD will continue to closely liaise with the stakeholders and listen to the views of the society on the scheme, and explore appropriate enhancement measures in a timely manner to foster the career development of Hong Kong young people in the GBA and facilitate the talent exchange in the area. 

Ends/Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:17

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