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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at the Best Companies to Work for in Hong Kong 2016 Award Presentation Ceremony today (June 16):
Mr José Carlos Bezanilla (Chief Executive Officer of Great Place to Work in China), Mr Denzel Xin (Research Analyst of Great Place to Work in China), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to address this important occasion and meet business leaders, CEOs, human resource directors and marketing executives from across a wide spectrum.
Let me first warmly congratulate the Great Place to Work Institute (GPWI) on organising this inaugural award presentation. I applaud the GPWI for breaking new ground by extending the renowned "Best Companies to Work For" Award to Hong Kong for the very first time. This award, dedicated for Hong Kong, is an encouraging recognition and clear endorsement of this vibrant city as an international business, financial and service centre.
The award gives recognition to private companies which are strong in teamwork and people management as well as in fostering an employee-friendly corporate culture. These are the essential ingredients which make a company and, indeed, any organisation, tick.
My heartfelt appreciation and congratulations also go to the eight award-winning companies which have fostered an ideal workplace for their staff. As a good and caring employer and one of the best companies to work for in Hong Kong, you not only boost the morale and productivity of your staff, but also help Hong Kong attract, nurture and retain talents. You are shining examples for others to follow.
As Asia's world city, Hong Kong is an ideal place for companies to thrive. We have been ranked as the world's freest economy for the 22nd consecutive year by the Washington-based think tank the Heritage Foundation. Hong Kong has also topped the ranking of the IMD (International Institute for Management Development) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2016 as the world's most competitive economy. This double honour speaks volumes about Hong Kong's inherent strengths and long-term potential. Despite fierce international competition, Hong Kong's consistent commitment to providing a favourable business environment, encouragement of innovation through low and simple taxation, free flow of capital, and our role as a gateway between the Mainland and the global capital markets brought us first place among the 61 economies assessed. Switzerland came second, followed by the US and Singapore.
I should add that given Hong Kong's attractions and strategic position in terms of maritime, inland and air transport, and as the world's largest offshore Renminbi market, we are well placed to play the key role of a "super-connector" between the fast developing Mainland and the 60-plus economies under the Belt and Road Initiative. Our openness, rule of law, international complexion, sophistication, can-do spirit, well developed institutional framework and infrastructure plus a versatile and hardworking workforce combine to propel Hong Kong forward. The free flow of talents, people, capital, goods and information underpins our present-day achievement and will remain our recipe for success for a very long time to come.
By advocating good employer-employee relationships in Hong Kong, the Great Place to Work Institute and the Hong Kong Award will help fuel our economic development and sharpen our competitive edge.
As Hong Kong's Secretary for Labour and Welfare for nine years, I am a strong believer in the overriding importance of a harmonious and trusting employer-employee relationship in the workplace. To me, labour relations have never been a zero-sum game. The employer-employee relationship is fundamentally symbiotic in nature. There are no winners or losers. It has to be a win-win situation for all if an enterprise is to survive, let alone thrive, in today's highly competitive and fast-changing business world.
Thanks to the strenuous efforts and mutual understanding of both employers and employees at large, Hong Kong has been blessed with generally harmonious labour relations. With our favourable economic environment and stable labour market, the number of claims and labour disputes handled by the Labour Department has been falling steadily in recent years. The successful conciliation rate stands at a high of well over 70 per cent. Last year, the Labour Department handled only two strikes, resulting in a loss of 103 working days, or an average loss of 0.03 working days per 1 000 salaried employees and wage earners, which is among the lowest in the world.
In a world increasingly propelled by knowledge, information technology and innovation, it is imperative for enterprises to have continuous access to a high-quality talent pool. In fact, the double demographic challenges of an ageing population and a resultant shrinking labour force faced by advanced economies such as Hong Kong make it even more pressing for companies to devise robust human capital strategies to attract, nurture and retain good employees.
Based on the updated labour force projections, Hong Kong's total labour force, excluding foreign domestic helpers, is projected to increase slightly from 3.60 million in 2014 to 3.65 million in 2018, and then taper off to 3.43 million in 2031 and hover at that level until 2038 before dwindling to 3.11 million in 2064. The overall labour force participation rate (i.e. the proportion of the labour force in the population aged 15 and over) is projected to fall from 59.3 per cent in 2014 to 48.6 per cent in 2064. These rather daunting figures amount to a wake-up call for those company management which fail to grasp the importance of employee-friendly practices.
With strong external headwinds and a slow growing local economy which sees setbacks in inbound tourism and weaker local consumption, Hong Kong, like many parts of the world, is undergoing an economic slowdown. While our economic fundamentals are sound and robust, and although our labour market remains largely stable with the unemployment rate standing at a fairly low 3.4 per cent, we need enterprises, employers and employees to join hands and confront the trying time ahead. In this context, employees' hard work, level of commitment and willingness to meet company targets become crucial. A human resource strategy designed to foster a strong sense of belonging amongst employees and building an employee-friendly workplace is bound to pay handsome dividends.
When companies join the league of caring employers and proactively build up a friendly work environment, they will reap rewards from their happy staff who make contributions not only to the enterprises, but also society.
On this note, let me wish you all a joyful and memorable evening tonight. Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, June 16, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:35
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