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Following is a question by the Hon Ng Leung-sing and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (November 13):
Question:
When he commented on the unemployment and underemployment statistics for the third quarter of 2013 released by the Census and Statistics Department on October 17, this year, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare pointed out that the labour market stayed tight, with the unemployment rate remained at a low level of 3.3%, the number of employed persons sustaining a year-on-year growth of 2.7% and the number of jobs registering an increase of 100 000 over the past year. Some members of the public have relayed to me that the economy of Hong Kong has been booming in recent years and there is keen demand for labour in various trades and industries, reflecting that the supply of labour is growing tight. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the government departments concerned have:
(a) assessed if the tight labour market will constrain the sustainable development of the economy of Hong Kong; if they have, of the extent of the constraints; and
(b) considered formulating corresponding policies and measures to alleviate the tight conditions of the labour market at present?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the question raised by the Hon Ng Leung-sing is as follows:
(a) The local labour market has remained tight in recent years. The Steering Committee on Population Policy (SCPP) has pointed out in its consultation document released on October 24, this year (2013) that certain sectors, such as the construction industry, retail and catering industries, and care service sector, are facing labour shortages. The shortages are transitional in some sectors but long-term and structural in others.
From the macroeconomic perspective, the Hong Kong economy grew by an average of 4% per year in real terms over the last two decades. It is crudely estimated that 1% of this was due to growth in the labour force while the other 3% came from productivity growth. Should the labour force decline, it would be difficult for the Hong Kong economy to maintain a similar growth trend unless productivity could be significantly enhanced.
(b) SCPP has pointed out in its consultation document that the population of Hong Kong is ageing. According to projections, our labour force will start to decline from 2018. SCPP has proposed the following five ways to deal with the challenges:
(i) increase the quantity of the labour force by drawing more people into the labour market. We should remove the barriers to work for our people;
(ii) enhance the quality of the labour force by improving education and training and minimising skills mismatch. We should equip our people with skills that can support our future economic development;
(iii) build up our human capital with a more proactive policy and targeted approach to attract more talent from overseas and the Mainland. We should also consider a more effective importation of labour system without jeopardising the interests of local workers;
(iv) focus the community discussion on effective measures in the Hong Kong context to remove barriers to childbearing and how the care-giving responsibility of families can be assisted by government and community efforts; and
(v) tap the valuable pool of elderly resources to create new impetus to the economic and social development of our community through building an age-friendly environment, promoting active ageing and development of the silver hair market.
We look forward to collecting views from different sectors during the four-month consultation period on the challenges and opportunities created by our changing population. This will help SCPP in its next stage of work, which involves formulating strategies to address the population challenges and mapping out an actionable agenda covering short and long-term measures.
Ends/Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:00
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