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Chapter 6
Employment
Hong Kong's workforce is motivated, intelligent and hardworking. The Government helps to keep it that way by safeguarding workers' rights and benefits, ensuring their workplaces are safe and healthy, and fostering a harmonious relationship between employers and employees. More measures were introduced this year to better equip the less-educated to secure work.
Hong Kong's adaptable workforce is its most treasured asset. The Government spares no effort in ensuring Hong Kong's workforce stays dynamic, motivated and skilful to contribute to Hong Kong's economic competitiveness. However, there are challenges. These include unemployment caused by economic restructuring, globalisation, greater use of information technology and corporate downsizing. The Government adopts a multi-pronged strategy to meet these challenges - for example, by upgrading the workforce, improving the business environment and increasing employment opportunities to meet the dictates of a knowledge-based economy.
During the year, the Employees Retraining Board provided about 100 000 places. to retrain workers, particularly those who were made redundant, or were unemployed, to re-enter the labour market. The Government also continued to offer special help to the less competitive workers.
The Labour Department has introduced a package of market-oriented employment initiatives such as the Employment Programme for the Middle-Aged, the Work Trial Scheme, the Special Incentive Allowance Scheme for Local Domestic Helpers, the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme, the Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme and the Work Orientation and Placement Scheme for job- seekers with disabilities. In addition, job fairs are held and job-matching services are provided to help job seekers to enter or re-enter the job market.
Over the past few years, the Government has created a number of temporary jobs in the public sector to help the unemployed enter or re-enter the labour market. In 2007, the funding of some 7 800 temporary jobs was regularised to meet operational needs.