Careers Guidance

The Careers Advisory Service of the Labour Department, through the promotion of careers education, helps young people to choose a career best suited to their talents, interests and abilities and also supports careers teachers with back-up information. The public can also access careers information published by the service through its website.

    Throughout the year, the service organised career talks and arranged student group visits to its Careers Information Centres and various commercial and industrial establishments. Its Education and Careers Expo 2002 attracted over 190 000 visitors and a total of 154 338 students took part in its Careers Quiz 2002.

Skills Upgrading Scheme

The Finance Committee approved in June 2001 the allocation of $400 million for the provision of focused skills training for workers with secondary, or below, education. In addition to the six sectors (printing, Chinese catering, textiles/clothing, import/export, transport and retail) initially selected for the pilot phase of the scheme, seven more industries were added in 2002. These new industries include tourism, hairdressing, electrical and engineering, property management, insurance, hotels and real estate agents. By year-end, 16 700 trainees had completed training under the scheme.

Youth Pre-employment Training Programme

The Youth Pre-employment Training Programme was first launched in 1999 to enhance the employability of school leavers aged 15 to 19 through a wide range of employment-related training, workplace attachment, careers counselling and support services. The third programme was concluded in July 2002. Over 12 700 trainees participated in the programme. Survey findings showed that the programme has received widespread support from trainees, employers and training bodies.

    The fourth programme, for 2002–03, is being delivered in two phases. The first phase, which commenced in September 2002, attracted some 6 200 participants.

Employees Retraining Scheme

The Employees Retraining Scheme (ERS) was launched in 1992 to provide retraining to eligible workers to assist them in taking on new or enhanced skills so that they can adjust to changes in the economic environment. It is administered by the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) which is a statutory body set up under the Employees Retraining Ordinance, comprising representatives from employers, employees, persons related to vocational training and retraining or manpower planning as well as the Government. In addition to regular income from a levy collected under the labour importation schemes, the Government provided a recurrent subvention of $400 million in 2001–02 and $396 million in 2002–03.

    The ERS focuses on assisting displaced workers who have experienced difficulties in seeking alternative employment. The main target group of the scheme is displaced workers aged 30 or over with no more than lower secondary education. The scheme offers a wide variety of full-time and part-time courses delivered through a network of over 50 approved training bodies. The courses broadly fall into seven categories: courses on job search skills, job-specific skills, general skills (computer and vocational languages), courses for the elderly, courses for people with disabilities, tailor-made courses and self-employment courses.

    During the year, 60 600 full-time and 56 900 part-time retraining places were provided under the ERS. The two Retraining Resource Centres, one in Yau Ma Tei and the other in Lok Fu, continued to provide self-learning facilities, job market information and other supporting services to all graduate retrainees. The objective is to reinforce the effectiveness of the ERS and foster the concept of lifelong learning.

    The ERB has introduced a number of new initiatives to help unemployed workers to re-enter the labour market. These include the provision of full-time or part-time courses on self-employment and business start-up, with a complementary Self-employment Business Start-up Assistance Scheme which allows graduate retrainees to obtain a bank loan up to a maximum of $100,000 to start a business, with the Government acting as the loan guarantor.

    Another new initiative is the 'Integrated Scheme for Local Domestic Helpers' which provides a one-stop service comprising job placement, referral and follow-up service for employers and graduate retrainees of domestic helper retraining courses, with the objective of tapping the job market for local domestic helpers. The scheme is delivered through a network of 13 Regional Service Centres at strategic locations throughout Hong Kong. In order to enhance the quality of training for local domestic helpers, the ERB set up in October 2002 a Practical Skills Training and Assessment Centre to administer a standard skills assessment for graduate trainees of domestic helper retraining courses. Those trainees who can pass the practical skills assessment test will each be offered a 'competency card'. The ultimate objective of assessment is to benchmark the skills standard of retrainees and in turn enhance public recognition of their work and the confidence of employers.

Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme

To enhance the employability of young people, the Government has allocated $400 million to launch the Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme. The scheme, administered by the Labour Department, aims at providing on-the-job training of six to 12 months' duration for young people aged 15 to 24, with education attainment below degree level. The target is to provide 10 000 training places in two years.

    The scheme was opened for application from July 24 to August 13, and about 15 000 young people participated in it. Another 3 000 young people had been advised to join the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme in the first instance. Upon completion of their pre-employment training, they would rejoin the scheme.

    Non-governmental organisations have been commissioned to offer induction training and case management service to trainees under the scheme. In total, 43 non-governmental organisations render their professional service through a network of 181 training centres and 611 case managers.

    By year-end, 2 308 employers, including 23 government departments, had offered 9 467 training vacancies. In addition, 22 044 referrals for selection interviews had been arranged and 6 085 trainees had secured employment through the assistance of their case managers. The placements are mainly clustered in the education service, and the wholesale and retail and business service industries.

    Special projects have been organised under the scheme. Through these projects, the Labour Department can canvass more training vacancies within a short period of time, and standardise the off-the-job training arrangements to meet the needs of participating employers. These special projects include the 'IT Seeds', 'Travel Pioneer', and 'Airport Ambassadors'.