Pandemic accelerates economic transformation, beware of labor mismatch

On Monday (24th), the recruitment and job search platform JobsDB announced that the number of recruitment in the market in 2021 will increase significantly, and even before the epidemic, it will increase by 73% year-on-year.

On the other hand, the Census and Statistics Department's latest unemployment rate (October-December last year) fell to 3.9%, the 11th consecutive month of declines since a high of 6.8% early last year.

These figures reflect that the local economy and labor market have bottomed out and there are signs of recovery, but the recovery has been very uneven across industries.

For example, the unemployment rate of "retail, accommodation and catering services", which has been severely affected by the epidemic, has been higher than that of other industries. The latest figure is still 5.4%, which is much higher than the average unemployment rate of 3.7%.

More importantly, the economic model after the epidemic has changed a lot, and it may be difficult for some practitioners to find the positions they used to work in, but it is not easy to transform.

In this regard, the government should plan early.

After the epidemic, many people need to change careers.

Many of them chose to enroll in new courses.

(Photo by Zeng Kaixin)

Less contact, high demand for science and technology economy

The epidemic has brought great changes to the economic model of Hong Kong. Some traditional face-to-face industries, such as catering, tourism and hotel industries, have continued to suffer due to epidemic prevention measures. The tourism industry has been almost completely halted due to entry and exit restrictions.

On the other hand, the epidemic has fueled the online economic model, creating new labor demands in areas such as information technology and financial technology.

For example, according to the statistics released by JobsDB on Monday, the top three job types with the highest recruitment demand, "corporate sales and business development", "banking or finance", and "information technology" increased by 55%, 36% and 35% respectively. UI/UX ( The specialized jobs of user interface) designers and data scientists increased by 86% and 79%, respectively.

These new hires reflect an increase in related demand, but also represent a mismatch between labor demand and supply in the market compared to other industries where unemployment remains high.

The information technology industry and even specialists such as data scientists require specialized training for a certain period of time. It does not mean that the public can transform immediately, and it will take a certain period of time to fill the relevant needs.

Moreover, some middle-aged or older workers may resist transformation or retraining, so labor mismatch may become a typical economic problem in the post-pandemic era.

The Labour Department will hold a job expo themed "Co-creation of Multicultural Workplaces" at Southorn Arena in Wanchai from 14 to 15 September 2021.

(Photo by Lu Yiming)

Labor does not mean transformation can be transformed

With the advancement of the fourth industrial revolution, the demand for low-skilled labor will be replaced by machinery in the foreseeable future, and the demand for high-skilled labor in information technology will certainly increase at the same time.

If it is not handled properly, a new class of "illiterate" - "technically illiterate" may emerge in society, which will not only waste labor, but may even make them a burden to society and affect economic development.

In fact, it has been a long time since the economy has been transitioning to high technology, and Hong Kong lacks low-cost manufacturing. The government should have taken precautionary measures to guard against technological gaps in the labor market.

It's just that thanks to the help of free travel in the past, the demand for low-skilled labor in Hong Kong has continued for a while, and the government may have taken it lightly on technological transformation, and the problem of the outbreak has been exposed.

Due to the impact of the epidemic and the development trend of technology, the existing labor demand and supply mismatch problems may become more serious, and the government must have a detailed plan to deal with it.

Adults, especially the middle-aged labor force, are most often faced with difficulties in transition. For adults who already have a certain degree of education and skills, in order to encourage them to acquire new knowledge to meet market demand, the government can provide more support in courses. This could include increasing the grants for further study funds, or offering more practically funded courses at university or post-secondary level.

Some people with lower skills may be more difficult to accept the transformation psychologically. The government should do a good job of publicity to make them understand the need for transformation and provide transformation support, such as providing some training that is in high demand in the market and in line with their technical level.

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