HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953
In addition to workers in registered factories and workshops there are estimated to be about the same number in small unregistered concerns scattered throughout the Colony. Agricul- ture accounts for about 150,000 of the population; fishing about 52,000 and mining about 2,000.
The bulk of the rest of the working population, apart from Government employees, is engaged in commerce and is estimated, very approximately, at 200,000. As in the previous year there were a number of applications from employers to recruit local workmen for jobs overseas. A total of 1,309 manual labourers went abroad during the year, the great majority to Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, Brunei, Sarawak, Nauru and Ocean Island, and contracts drawn up to I.L.O. specifications were read and explained to all workmen before departure. Most in demand were carpenters, construction and textile workers, and labourers for phosphate mines and oil fields.
The following table shows the number of registered (not including recorded) factories at the end of the year in com- parison with 1952 and five years ago.
1949
1952
1953
Factories and Workshops (registered) Applications under consideration
991
1,504 1,657
284
347
468
Total:
Wages and Conditions of Employment
1,275 1,851 2,125
Wages. Wages, as a whole, have shown no significant change during the year, and there has been no further consolida- tion of cost of living allowances into basic pay. Wages for daily paid artisans remain approximately as follows:
Skilled Workmen
Semi Skilled Unskilled
$6.00 - $8.50
$5.00 - $6.50
$3.50 - $5.00
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