2
Employment
Of nearly a million and a half people at work in Hong Kong more than half a million are engaged in the manufacturing industries. This is the picture obtained from a projection of the figures returned in the 1961 census. At that time 1,211,999 people were described as 'economically active' and 1,191,099 claimed to be employed.
The general picture in 1961 was that just over half these workers were in construction, manufacturing, mining, quarrying and the utilities. Another 22 per cent provided various types of services, 11 per cent were employed in commerce while agriculture, forestry and fishing engaged seven per cent as did communications. At the same census 57,400 people were counted as employers. There is no reason to believe that the occupational pattern has changed significantly since then so that present day figures would be manu- facturing 578,550, services 323,350, commerce 159,500, construction 121,800, farming and fishing 107,300, communications 105,850, public utilities 23,200, mining and quarrying 10,150 with some 20,300 in various other forms of employment.
This projection although merely an estimate gives a broader picture than is available from actual statistics available in the Labour Department since the latter are confined to voluntary returns from registered and recorded factories and undertakings. As such they do not include out-workers or people employed in cottage industries, the construction industry or agriculture and fishing.
These returns to the Labour Department show that the number of people directly employed in registered and recorded factories reached a total of 350,174, a decrease of 4,220 from 1963. Those engaged in weaving, spinning, knitting and the manufacture of garments and made-up textile goods accounted for a total of 148,264 and remained the largest section of the labour force. The plastics industry, in which a large number of out-workers are known to be employed, continued its expansion as the second largest employer.