The shortage of manpower in residential care homes for the elderly has persisted for many years. According to information from the Labour Department, foreign workers originally accounted for 6% of the frontline staff. However, the process of approving the importation of foreign workers in Hong Kong has been slow due to the epidemic, and local people are not very willing to join the nursing industry in residential care homes for the elderly.
In order to alleviate this "old" problem, the Labour Department and the Employees Retraining Board hope to arrange for some potential population who did not belong to this market, such as housewives or recently retired people, to join the market with flexible working hours.
The Commissioner for Labour, Sun Yuk-han, said in an interview that the Labour Department has been in constant contact with different industries and understands that it is difficult to hire people under the current epidemic, but the principle of importing foreign workers will only be in some "specific" types of work. Low-cost ones, such as gardeners, tofu processing plants, environmental recycling industries, etc., will hire foreign workers through the program."
Under the repeated epidemics, due to the government's tightening of social measures, many industries such as restaurants, entertainment venues, and aviation industries have been frozen. Employees are forced to take unpaid leave.
Sun Yuhan said that he believes that the epidemic is "no matter how difficult it is, and it will be over one day", and the Employees Retraining Board said that the retraining program is popular, and employees who have been suspended from work and left on pay can participate in the retraining program for free, and the government will also provide special allowances.
ERB wants housewives or recent retirees to join the aged care industry
Yu Pengchun, Chairman of the Employees Retraining Board, said in the interview that the shortage of manpower in residential care homes for the elderly and the change of local care workers have been a long-term problem in Hong Kong. The Labour Department has approved the import of foreign workers to replenish manpower. Unfortunately, due to the impact of the epidemic, the approval time has been extended.
Therefore, the ERB hopes to join the potential workforce to help relieve the pressure of manpower shortage.
Yu Pengchun pointed out that he hoped that some manpower who did not belong to the labor market circles, such as housewives, housekeepers or just retirees, would be invited to join the nursing home for the elderly with flexible working hours through the "employment first and training later" plan.
Nursing staff are trapped for a long time Yu Pengchun: Nursing homes with insufficient staff must provide diversified working hours to attract part-time jobs
Yu Pengchun pointed out that he understands that nurses generally need to work 8 to 9 hours, which may not be suitable for some housewives with children or recently retired people, so I hope that it can be reduced to 6 hours or regular weekends.
On the other hand, Yu Pengchun said that the bureau continued to advise employers: "In the face of manpower shortage, (the person in charge of the nursing home) should prepare for diversified working hours and more part-time jobs, but it will take time."
Half of the applications for the Supplementary Labour Scheme are related to private residential care homes
The Commissioner for Labour, Sun Yuk-han, said that the Labour Department has been in continuous contact with different industries and understands the difficulty of hiring people under the current epidemic.
Although the Labour Department implements the Supplementary Labour Scheme, and more than half of the more than 3,000 cases are related to private residential care homes, he said that for some specific types of work, only locals who do not do it will hire foreign workers through the scheme: , tofu processing plants, environmental recycling and other industries.”
The Commissioner for Labour, Sun Yuk-han, said that no matter how difficult the epidemic is, it will be over one day.
(Photo by Liang Sixing)
The Labour Department will closely monitor the statistics to understand whether the immigration wave has affected the local labour force
There has been a wave of immigration in Hong Kong recently. When asked whether the labor force population will gradually decline, Sun Yuhan believes that it is difficult to objectively outline a factor to determine whether it has an impact on Hong Kong, especially when the epidemic is difficult to clear customs.
He stressed that Hong Kong's labor market is a dynamic market. As an open city, the labor force has high mobility. The Labour Department has been closely monitoring the statistics.
"Special·Love Value-added" helps value-added transformation of the ERB: Many working people should not be idle to read the words of the epidemic
The Executive Director of the Employees Retraining Board, Ng Kwok-keung, said that the "Special Love Value-Added Scheme" launched in response to the epidemic can help those who are unemployed and who want to change careers.
He said that the course can improve relevant industry skills and also receive subsidies: "For example, we encourage tourism to study local in-depth tours and cultural tours; the catering industry encourages reading languages or leadership skills; logistics students study 5G or blockchain. Said that the course is very popular: "Many working people had conversations before the epidemic and had no time to study, including tourism, real estate agency, and catering; before, there was no subsidy for studying, and tuition fees were required to be paid. There are allowances."
Wu Guoqiang, the executive director of the Employees Retraining Board, said that the value-added plan launched due to the epidemic has been welcomed by the industry, which can not only improve relevant skills but also receive government subsidies.
(Photo by Liang Sixing)
Under the epidemic, the manpower gap has expanded, and it has not been possible to make it easier for the elderly. Professionalism is recommended to save talents. Only one-third of the students of the nursing course have switched to 19-year-old outstanding employees. How much does the CSSA Retraining Scheme help?
The Department of Labour will hold a large-scale job fair to provide more than 3,400 job vacancies with 75% of the vacancies.
