Employment
retrenchment cases, the department sets up a telephone hotline and special counters at job centres to provide priority job referral services for the workers affected.
In 2012, 99,812 job seekers registered with the Labour Department and there were 145,017 job placements. The department also recorded 1,144,424 private sector vacancies, an all-time high. figure and an increase of 27.1 per cent when compared with 2011.
Employment Programme for the Middle-aged
In 2012, 2,500 middle-aged job seekers were employed under this Government programme, which gives employers who engage eligible middle-aged people and provide them with on- the-job training a training allowance of $2,000 per month per trainee for three to six months.
Work Trial Scheme
In 2012, 461 job seekers with exceptional difficulties in finding jobs took part in a 'Work Trial Scheme' run by the Labour Department. On completion of the one-month trial, each. participant receives $6,000 from the Labour Department, of which $500 is paid by the organisation the participant served.
Pilot Employment Navigator Programme
This two-year project started in December 2010. Participants who secure employment that meets the programme's requirements after receiving the department's employment consultation services are given a maximum cash incentive of $5,000 if they stay in the job for at least three months. In 2012, 3,672 job seekers joined the programme.
Employment in One-stop
This one-stop employment and training centre in Tin Shui Wai provides employment and training to needy job seekers, including unemployed able-bodied recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, a scheme to help people who cannot help themselves financially. The centre provides services and facilities, such as case management and employment support services, that are currently not available at other Labour Department job centres. In 2012, 53,287 job seekers made use of the centre's services and facilities.
Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme
This scheme helps low-income earners reduce their cost of travelling to and from work and encourages them to secure or stay in employment. Depending on their monthly working hours, workers are given a subsidy of $600 or $300 a month. As at December 2012, 37,585 workers had received the subsidy since the scheme started in October 2011. A mid-term review of the scheme was completed during the year.
Helping Persons with Disabilities Find Jobs
The Labour Department's Selective Placement Division helps persons with disabilities who are fit for open employment to seek jobs in the employment market. It provides free employment counselling and placement services to formerly mentally ill persons and persons with hearing. or visual impairment, physical handicap, chronic illness, autism, intellectual disability, specific learning difficulties and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, etc. In 2012, the division
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