EMPLOYMENT
During the year, 189 949 job-seekers registered with the ESD while employers filed 138 496 vacancies. The division made 358 522 job referrals and placed 35 785 persons in employment.
Employees Retraining Scheme
The Employees Retraining Board (ERB) is composed of representatives from the government, employers, employees, training institutions and manpower planning practitioners. It was set up in 1992 to provide retraining for local employees to cope with structural changes in the economy. In January 1997, the scheme was further extended to all eligible employees, including new arrivals from the Mainland.
Training is delivered through a network of approved training bodies, with funding support for approved courses from the Employees Retraining Fund. The fund was set up with a $300 million capital injection from the government, which has since made three further injections totalling another $1.3 billion to meet with the demand for retraining. Regular income comes from a levy charged on employers employing imported workers under the labour importation schemes, at the rate of $400 per worker per month.
The Employees Retraining Scheme offers a wide variety of day and evening courses primarily for employees aged 30 and above, with no more than lower secondary education. In view of the changing economic environment and rising unemployment rate, the age and educational criteria for enrolment have been relaxed from April 1, 1998, to enable eligible employees aged below 30 or with a higher educational background to enrol in full-time retraining courses targeting the unemployed. Broadly speaking, these courses cover training on job-search skills, job-specific skills, general skills, and programmes tailor-made for the disabled and the elderly. An important feature of the scheme is that employers, as end users, are encouraged to participate as far as possible in the design and delivery of the programmes. All full- time courses are free of charge and retrainees attending full-time courses lasting more than one week may apply for retraining allowances. However, those attending part- time and evening courses, except courses for the elderly and the disabled, must pay course fees to cover some 20 per cent of the training costs. By the end of 1998, a total of 273 507 retraining places had been offered to 147 977 persons under the scheme.
In response to the economic downturn, the ERB has been actively developing new initiatives and retraining programmes to help more unemployed persons re-join the workforce and improve competence. Such development is exemplified by the pilot run of integrated packages of job-oriented, intensive retraining programmes which comprise general adjustment training, job-specific skills training and one-year follow- up counselling services. Another new initiative is a nine-month Certificate of Skills Training (Service Industries) course jointly run by the ERB and the Vocational Training Council (VTC). This certificate course was introduced in September 1998 for 1000 retrainees to equip them with the service attitudes required and skills training in computer, languages and communication, as well as business studies. To acquire more job opportunities for the retrainees, the ERB is also actively expanding its employers network, identifying new areas of growth and developing special tailor- made retraining programmes to meet the specific needs of individual employers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
127