III.
3.
3. It is believed that the majority of workers are semi-
skilled and skilled (with about 8.5% of the total work force
falling within the category of managerial and clerical staff). There is a small percentage of unskilled labour,
but it is believed that this is lower than the percentages
in many other industries.
1. Workers are mostly recruited through personal introduction
a traditional method of recruitment and occasionally through
advertisements in newspapers, or merely through a notice
posted in front of the factory premises. The Government
Employment Information Service also helps to channel workers to fill vacancies in industry. Generally, managements do not have much difficulty in recruiting workers except younger workers in the age group from 18 to 25 years. The deficiency is most marked in age group from 15 to 20 years, where the
numbers missing exceed the survivors from the generation
which suffered privations of civil war in China and occupation
by the Japanese from 1938 to 1945. The population census taken in 1961 shows that there was a preponderance of young people, 40% being under the age of 15 years.
2.
3.
Most of the workers employed in the clothing industry are paid by piece rates. According to the Employers and Servants Ordinance Cap.57, termination of monthly contracts is only
possible by either party giving 30 days' notice, orally or in
writing, or by the employer paying to his employee, in lieu
of such notice, one month's extra wages. Dismissals for
cause require no notice and therefore attract no compensation.
In the case of lay-offs, particularly on grounds of redundancy,
it is customary for employers to give severance pay, the amount of which is negotiated between workers and employers.
Most of the workers are trained within industry. Many
factories have schemes for training machine operatives but
the scope and methods vary according to individual establish- ments. In 1965, Government set up a non-statutory Advisory
Committee to look into the question of industrial training.
Under the auspices of this Committee, several associated
committees have been set up to investigate the training
needs of particular industries - including the clothing
industry.
/IV.