The Hong Kong labour minister has defended the government’s schemes to import non-local workers following criticism that the programmes have led to a rising unemployment rate in the city.
“I have noticed that recent comments have linked the unemployment situation in certain industries to imported labour. I must emphasise that the government’s manpower policy has always prioritised local workers,” Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said in a Chinese-language Facebook post on Tuesday.
Sun’s statement comes after the city recorded higher unemployment and underemployment rates – a record high since early 2023.
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate for the February-April period rose to 3.4 per cent, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared with the January-March rate, according to the Census and Statistics Department’s figures released on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the underemployment rate for the February-April period increased to 1.3 per cent, also a 0.2 percentage point rise compared with the January-March rate.
Sun suggested that local workers and unions file a report with the Labour Department should they suspect an employer “has replaced local employees with imported workers.”
He added, “I reiterate that employers cannot replace existing local employees with imported labour. If layoffs are necessary, employers should first reduce imported workers.”
Chau Siu-chung, a pro-establishment lawmaker for the labour sector, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that sectors such as catering and construction, which allow imported workers, had experienced a “significant rise” in unemployment rates.
Unemployment in both the construction and catering sectors from February to April has risen to 5.7 per cent, much higher than the general unemployment rate, he said, citing the government’s data.
“On one hand, there is a large influx of foreign labour, on the other hand, more and more locals are becoming unemployed. This situation is concerning,” Chau said in the Chinese-language post.
He also wrote that some employers fired local employees soon after hiring imported workers.
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), a pro-establishment political party, also said that sectors eligible for non-local hires had reported a significant increase in unemployment rates.
It urged the government to review various imported labour programmes, especially the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS), which permits non-local hires without quota limits.
Expanded schemes
Hong Kong expanded a series of imported labour schemes two years ago, citing a labour shortage.
In June 2023, the government increased the quota for non-local workers in the construction and transport industries and residential care homes.
In September 2023, the ESLS was launched. The scheme, which is set to end in September, allows Hong Kong employers to import workers for 26 types of jobs that were previously only open to local residents, such as cashiers, hair stylists, sales assistants, and waiters.
As of the end of March, the city has imported more than 54,000 non-local workers under ESLS. Among them, more than 8,900 non-local workers worked as waiters – the most popular job taken up by imported workers – followed by junior cooks, according to the Labour and Welfare Bureau.
