5.
viii
people (reinforced by the 1967 riots, foreign pressure groups and government action in the field of labour legislation). But these
observations apply mainly to the large firms and it should not be
forgotten that a very large proportion of workers are employed in
small concerns which are themselves extremely vulnerable to market
fluctuations. Nevertheless, the seven factors listed above
combine to provide substantial inducements for labour to stay put
rather than seek employment wherever the highest wages are
currently paid. Once workers have made the psychological adjustment
to sticking it out with one firm, a large proportion of them are
thereby effectively withdrawn from those sectors of the labour
market where the forces of free competition are at work.
Patterns of mobility in the labour force:
We may divide discussion of occupational mobility into three
parts: (a) vertical mobility within the wage labour market
(b) horizontal mobility in the same and (c) movements between the
wages sector and independent enterprise/non-wage employment.
-
the
(a) The value of individual upward mobility is held strongly in HK.
This takes the form of an exaggerated respect for educational
qualifications, a traditional Chinese attitude but one which so far
has been reinforced by post-war experience in the Colony. Educa-
tional attainment sharply divides the labour market into zones of
opportunity to which some have access and others are denied. Hence
many young employees attend part-time evening classes in the hope
of improving their chances. This aspiration attracts young workers
to sectors which offer the best opportunities for promotion
large-scale commercial/services sector (including government).
Promotion depends in some degree on staying with one firm, although
sideways movement to win promotion is possible where competition
between employers is strong. Generally, turnover among non-manual
workers is low. Limited opportunities exist for promotion in the
industrial sectors through apprenticeship training to acquire
skills, and the assumption of greater responsibility with practical
experience. Here too, for a time at any rate, a person who wants
to get ahead will be well-advised to stay with one firm. Upward
mobility tends, therefore, to reinforce the development of internal
labour markets in large firms and to reduce labour force mobility
as a whole. (This tendency is, of course, only relative and partial.)