XN000022-1995-11-09 — Page 11

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Measures taken to tackle unemployment problems

The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph W P Wong, today to work closely with the (Thursday) appealed to employers and employees Government to tackle the immediate unemployment problems and to develop a longer term manpower strategy.

Speaking at the Governor's Summit Meeting on Employment, Mr Wong stressed that differences over the issue of labour importation should not be allowed to affect the harmonious labour relations which had hitherto been the hallmark of Hong Kong's success story.

Noting that the Job Matching Programme (JMP) operated by the Labour Department (LD) had been well received and effective in helping employers to find staff and the unemployed to find jobs, Mr Wong urged the trade union representatives to ask the workers in need to come forward and register with JMP as there were still plenty of jobs waiting to be filled.

From April to October this year, JMP, which is specifically designed to help unemployed workers aged 30 and above to find employment, has secured 2,594 job offers for 4,041 job-seekers, the success rate is 64 per cent.

Also, since June and up to last month, LD's Local Employment Service has placed about 11,000 workers, as against 7,600 for the same period in 1994, an increase of 44 per cent.

Other initiatives undertaken by the Government since the last Summit in June included the setting up of an outreaching placement service to provide on-the-spot assistance to workers affected by major retrenchments and taking a more proactive approach to contact employers for information on job vacancies.

LD also organises and takes part in job bazaars, seminars and briefings to facilitate placement.

To further enhance the employment service, Mr Wong said the Government was taking steps to computerise JMP and to provide more staff to LD, as the programme would be an integral part of the proposed Supplementary Labour Scheme (SLS).