6
Employment
4
DE
HONG KONG has a resourceful and energetic workforce of some 2.64 million – of which 64 per cent are men and 36 per cent are women. This estimate is based on the results of the July-September 1986 General Household Survey. They are mainly engaged in: manu- facturing, 35.8 per cent; wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, 22.7 per cent; community, social and personal services, 17.1 per cent; transport, storage and communica- tions, 8.4 per cent; construction, 7.5 per cent; and financing, insurance, real estate and business services, 6.1 per cent.
According to an establishment survey of Employment, Vacancies and Payroll in the manufacturing sector, conducted in September 1986, 869 753 people were engaged in 48 623 establishments. The survey covered working proprietors and partners, employees receiving pay, and unpaid family workers affiliated to business organisations, but excluded out-workers. Some 379 600 people – the largest portion of the manufacturing workforce - were engaged in the textile and wearing apparel industries. The electrical industry and the plastics industry were the next two largest employers. Details of the distribution of manufacturing establishments, and of the number of people engaged in them, are given at Appendices 13 and 14.
The bulk of the manufacturing workforce is concentrated in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the satellite towns in the New Territories. Industrial develop- ment in the New Territories is increasing and 35 per cent of the manufacturing workforce now works there.
Labour Legislation
In 1986, eight items of labour legislation were enacted to provide for better standards of safety, health and welfare for the workforce. This brings the total number of items of labour legislation enacted in the last 10 years to 136 under the overall policy of achieving a level of legislation on safety, health and welfare broadly equivalent to Hong Kong's neighbouring countries at a similar stage of economic development. The most significant items of labour legislation which came into force during the year were the long service payment provisions under the Employment Ordinance, which took effect on January 1, and two new sets of regulations under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance: the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Asbestos) Special Regulations, the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Safety Officers and Safety Supervisors) Regulations. These and other items of legislation are described in greater detail below.
As a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong is not a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and is not called upon to ratify any International Labour Conventions, which set international labour standards. However, the United Kingdom Government makes declarations on behalf of Hong Kong with regard to the