The unemployment rate fell further. The Census and Statistics Department announced today (16th) that the unemployment rate from August to October fell to 4.3%, of which the catering industry fell by 0.8 percentage points to 7.7%, which is still higher than the overall level.
However, Huang Jiahe, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Catering Industry Association, revealed that due to nearly full bookings for wedding banquets and company banquets from the end of the year to the beginning of next year, the catering industry is in fact "lack of people" and restaurants, large and small, are "grabbing people", but they are just unemployed. The rate data does not reflect the actual situation, because many people work as casual or temporary workers: "Only 4 or 5 hours a day, and then go to another (restaurant) to do it the next day."
+2
The maximum number of banquets will allow broadband access, and most hotels and restaurants will be fully booked in December
From August to October this year, the unemployment rate and underemployment rate of the catering industry both fell, of which the underemployment rate fell by 0.9 percentage points to 2.1%.
However, the catering industry believes that the data does not reflect the actual situation.
Huang Jiahe said that due to the recent slowdown in the epidemic and the relaxation of the maximum number of banquets in Category D restaurants to 240, the number of banquets in hotels and restaurants has increased significantly. Explosive, but only wedding banquets, there will be company and club activities."
Manpower is really a headache. Large and small restaurants are short of people, and there is a high salary. The hotel used to hire temporary workers to have requirements on the quality of the staff.
Huang Jiahe, Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Beverages Association
Huang bluntly said that the wages of hiring temporary workers are "increasing", leading to rising costs: "Manpower is really a headache." He also pointed out that the current large and small restaurants are also short of manpower, and there is a situation of high salaries. It is to hire temporary workers, and there are also requirements for the quality of service of the staff, but "Everyone hired by the family is counted, and they don’t care about it."
The latest unemployment rate of 4.3% dropped from an 8-month to 19-month low, but the decline slowed
The hotel’s hourly salary is 100 yuan, please "fry away". The restaurant industry has a headache: we have to pay more
Another person in the Chinese restaurant industry revealed that on weekends and Sundays, when the hourly wage is 80 to 100 yuan, the hourly wage is 40% higher than the previous one. He also heard that some hotels even ask for "speculation" if the hourly wage is more than 100 yuan. The floor area has doubled: "It (the hotel) has a lot of labor, and we have to do it again."
Some people are happy and some are worried that the construction industry only has a shortage of people for erecting sheds and pipes
Although the employment situation in the catering industry is ideal, "some people are happy and others are worried."
Wu Weiliang, director of rights and interests of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Federation, said that at present, only some types of work are "robbing people", including scaffolding and plumbing. However, the overall employment has not recovered, especially the older workers.
Construction Industry Federation: Many workers just changed from completely unemployed to underemployed
He also pointed out that many of the workers he contacted have changed from "unemployed" to underemployed. They only work one or two days a week, and their income has been cut by half compared to the past.
He hopes that the government projects that have been allocated can be launched one after another, "it will benefit frontline workers in about one to two years."
Looking at the data, the unemployment rate in the construction industry from August to October fell 0.4 percentage points from the previous three months to 6.4%; while the underemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 5.2%.
The unemployment rate in the construction industry from August to October fell 0.4 percentage points from the previous three months to 6.4%; while the underemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 5.2%.
(Profile picture)
The latest unemployment rate of 4.3% fell for an 8-month to 19-month low, but the decline has slowed. There are still about 188,000 unemployed workers in Hong Kong｜Survey: Consumer vouchers have driven the number of unemployed to plummet
