- 12 -
IV Workers' Priorities for General Improvement
The next set of questions we shall discuss here are those which attempted ·
to determine the workers' priorities between income and a series of other
factors. On reflection these questions appear to duplicate to some extent
the question 19 (11) on respondents' choice of the two most important job
aspects. Since the majority chose income as one of the most important
.aspects it clearly follows that they would prefer higher income over more
welfare benefits, better working conditions, shorter or more convenient
hours and more rest days. As well as tackling this problem, more thought
needs to be given here to the alternatives offerred to higher income; it
may be only of minimal interest whether respondents prefer higher income
or more rest days.
The workers in the sample did, however, prefer greater job security to
higher income (57 preferred the formor and 39 the latter) despite the fact
that income was much more frequently chosen as one of the two most
important items than job security was. We suggest that the greater job
security envisaged by the respondents in their replies here included factors
relating to industry in general in Hong Kong such as the depression/boom
cycle and not just to the economid viability of a particular firm that a
worker might take into account when choosing a job there.
implicit meaning of this question needs bringing out in the next survey
The wider
(The
survey!
The respondents also preferred nore provision of social services to higher
income (66% compared to 33%). Social services were in particular demanded
by the young (74% of younger men and 73% of younger women compared to
56% of older men and 33% of older women preferred more social services)
and by those employed in the large firms whose expectations of benefits
in general are might expect to be higher on accouht of the greater welfare
benefits they received from their employers (743 of respondents in large
firms chose more provision of social services compared to 58% of those
in small firms). However, a careful check needs to be made next time on
One