Policy Address

(G) Labour Support and Protection

247. In the face of accelerated industrial transformation and ever-evolving technological development, our workforce must continuously acquire new skills to stay abreast of economic development and seize emerging opportunities. We will ensure the employment priority of local workers and combat illegal employment rigorously. To enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong's workforce and enlarge the talent pool, we will reform the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) and optimise the Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme. We will also strengthen labour protection, including protecting digital platform workers, and enhancing occupational safety and health (OSH).

Ensure Employment Priority of Local Workers

248. As our population continues to age, Hong Kong faces a declining labour force. Importing labour on an appropriate scale helps ease manpower shortages and serves Hong Kong's overall interests. We will launch measures to ensure the employment priority of local workers and combat the abuse of the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS). Starting tomorrow, when applying to import waiters/waitresses and junior cooks under the ESLS, employers are required to:

0. Extend the local recruitment process from four weeks to six weeks, during which they must once a week attend an on-site job fair organised by the Labour Department (LD).

1. Implement the manning ratio requirement²³ more stringently such that it is calculated based on posts being applied for, but not on all posts engaged by an employer. In other words, an employer applying to import a waiter/waitress and a junior cook must have already employed two local full-time waiters/waitresses and two local full-time junior cooks.