2
Employment
THE most recent analysis of Hong Kong's workforce showed that about 47 per cent of the working population was engaged in con- struction, manufacturing, mining, quarrying and the utilities; about 24 per cent in various services; 17 per cent in commerce; seven per cent in communications and five per cent in agriculture, forestry and fishing. Based on this pattern, the estimated employ- ment figures at the end of 1970 were: manufacturing 613,620, services 375,440, commerce 259,690, construction 96,000, agricul- ture, forestry and fishing 81,300, communications 106,600, public utilities 15,210, mining and quarrying 4,670. There were also some 5,970 in other work, making an estimated total of 1,558,500 employed.
In 1970, the Labour Department had on record 17,239 industrial undertakings and, according to voluntary returns made to the department, these employed a total of 589,505 workers, an increase of 27,942 over the 1969 figures. Those engaged in weaving, spin- ning, knitting, and the manufacture of garments and made-up textile goods accounted for a total of 238,440 and remained the largest section of this labour force. The plastics industry, which also employs a large number of out-workers, remained the second largest employer. The demand for labour in the manufacturing industries continued to exceed the supply. Fuller details of the distribution of industrial undertakings and of persons employed in them are given in Appendix 3.
The bulk of the industrial population is concentrated in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon but there is increasing industrial development in the New Terri- tories, particularly in the new township of Tsuen Wan. In December 1970 the Labour Department had on record 1,733 factories in the New Territories, with a labour force of 88,843. Although most workers are engaged in modern manufacturing processes and to a