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Employment
enhance their employability, improve job search skills and secure employment. In 2012-13, 8,095 young school leavers enrolled on the programme.
Youth Employment Support
The Labour Department operates two youth employment resource centres called 'Youth Employment Start' to offer one-stop advisory and support services to young people aged between 15 and 29 to improve their chances of employment, and to help them secure sustainable employment or self-employment. In 2013, the two centres provided services to 74,850 young people.
Employees Retraining Board (ERB)
The ERB is a statutory body set up under the Employees Retraining Ordinance. Its members include employer and employee representatives, people connected with vocational training and retraining or manpower planning, and public officers. The ERB provides, under its Manpower Development Scheme, market-driven training and employment support services. through about 110 appointed training bodies, operating around 410 training centres across Hong Kong. People aged 15 or above with education attainment up to sub-degree level may enrol on its full-time placement-tied courses and part-time or evening generic skills training courses or courses under the 'Skills Upgrading Scheme Plus! As at December 2013, there were over 870 courses covering 28 industries.
The ERB runs a Youth Training Programme to help youths aged between 15 and 20 to regain an interest in learning and to plan their careers. The ERB also offers 'Employment Set Sail for Youth' courses to provide secondary school graduates with training in vocational skills and assist them to acquire recognised qualifications. In 2013, the ERB launched on a pilot basis the 'Specialised Security Services Training Programme' and the 'Youth Management Trainee Programme' to enhance young people's employment opportunities.
The ERB also provides training and employment support to other groups, including new arrivals, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, people who have recovered from work injuries, and rehabilitated ex-offenders.
The ERB's 'Smart Living Scheme' refers ERB graduates providing services such as domestic help, elderly care, escort for outpatients, care for discharged and hospital patients, and healthcare massage. In 2013, ERB launched the 'Smart Baby Care Scheme' to handle vacancies for post- natal care and infant and child care services on a centralised basis.
Apart from training in vocational skills, ERB also attaches great importance to improving workers' employment opportunities by providing them with training in generic skills, such as workplace languages, business numeracy, IT applications, personal attributes and job search skills. In 2013, the ERB launched new courses covering work ethics and conduct, communication skills, emotion management, etc.
The ERB operates three service centres in Kowloon East, Kowloon West and Tin Shui Wai to provide people in those districts with training and employment support. The ERB strives to
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