Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said on Saturday (June 17) that moderate labour importation is necessary for enterprises to continue investing in Hong Kong.
The working population in the SAR declined from 3.68 million in 2018 to 3.4 million in 2022, according to Eric Chan on a radio show. He said that their multi-pronged strategy would prioritize hiring local people and that they planned to hire a total of 20,000 construction and transportation personnel.
"It's not about replacing the local workforce, but to 'make the pie bigger'. If employers no longer invest in Hong Kong because of the labour shortage, which leads to problems in the economy, we will all suffer together," he said.
"Say, for example, frequent flyers know that when airlines in Hong Kong do not hire enough workers, some flights cannot operate, which in turn, makes plane tickets expensive."
He said that in order to develop the Northern Metropolis, Hong Kong urgently needs construction workers, and that in order to recruit more skilled employees, subsidized training will be made available.
Speaking on the same programme, the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Lam Sai-hung, said importing drivers could tackle the ageing problem faced by the trade, an issue which would affect transport services if left unsolved.
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