OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION
29
New regulations, introduced at the beginning of the year, con- trolling further the working hours of women and young persons, resulted in an increase in the number of persons employed in particular sections of industry. In the cotton spinning and weaving industries, where continuous operation of machinery is economic and large numbers of women are employed, a change from two to three shifts a day in many of the mills involved the employment of a larger working force. The extent to which the new regula- tions were responsible for the increase in the employment figures cannot be determined with accuracy because they were introduced during a period of industrial expansion.
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The manufacture of textiles, engaging 52,936 workers, remained the principal source of industrial employment. Within this industry the majority of the workers are employed in cotton weaving (21,359 workers) and cotton spinning (14,932 workers). The manufacture of wearing apparel employed 44,606 workers. Thus, 97,542 workers or 45% of the industrial working force are engaged in the textile and garment industries. Other important industries were the manufacture of metalware (26,473 workers) and the manufacture and repair of transport equipment, including shipbuilding and repairing (12,906 workers). The rapid growth of the plastic flower and shipbreaking industries was a striking feature of the year.
The expansion of industry and industrial employment over the past three years has been as follows:
Year
1957
1958
1959
Industrial!
Undertakings
Male Workers
- Female
Workers
Total Workers
3,373
94,579
58,454
153,033
4,906
108,844
71,153 179,997
5,023
122,766 94,601 217,367
A more detailed table showing the development of industry over the same period by main industrial groups and by selected industries within certain of these groups is at Appendix II.
Work on the reclamation at Kwun Tong to provide sites for industry continued, and by the end of the year 32 factories were in operation and 43 were under construction. Plans for 22 other factories had been approved. Land sales and reclamation at Kwun Tong are also mentioned in Chapters 6 and 10.