TNAG-0647-FCO40-795-Study-of-labour-relations-in-Hong-Kong-by-Professor-H-A-Turn-1977 — Page 127

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people (reinforced by the 1967 riots, foreign pressure groups and government action in the field of labour legislation). But these

observations apply mainly to the large firms and it should not be

forgotten that a very large proportion of workers are employed in

small concerns which are themselves extremely vulnerable to market

fluctuations. Nevertheless, the seven factors listed above

combine to provide substantial inducements for labour to stay put

rather than seek employment wherever the highest wages are

currently paid. Once workers have made the psychological adjustment

to sticking it out with one firm, a large proportion of them are

thereby effectively withdrawn from those sectors of the labour

market where the forces of free competition are at work.

Patterns of mobility in the labour force:

We may divide discussion of occupational mobility into three

parts: (a) vertical mobility within the wage labour market

(b) horizontal mobility in the same and (c) movements between the

wages sector and independent enterprise/non-wage employment.

-

the

(a) The value of individual upward mobility is held strongly in HK.

This takes the form of an exaggerated respect for educational

qualifications, a traditional Chinese attitude but one which so far

has been reinforced by post-war experience in the Colony. Educa-

tional attainment sharply divides the labour market into zones of

opportunity to which some have access and others are denied. Hence

many young employees attend part-time evening classes in the hope

of improving their chances. This aspiration attracts young workers

to sectors which offer the best opportunities for promotion

large-scale commercial/services sector (including government).

Promotion depends in some degree on staying with one firm, although

sideways movement to win promotion is possible where competition

between employers is strong. Generally, turnover among non-manual

workers is low. Limited opportunities exist for promotion in the

industrial sectors through apprenticeship training to acquire

skills, and the assumption of greater responsibility with practical

experience. Here too, for a time at any rate, a person who wants

to get ahead will be well-advised to stay with one firm. Upward

mobility tends, therefore, to reinforce the development of internal

labour markets in large firms and to reduce labour force mobility

as a whole. (This tendency is, of course, only relative and partial.)