TNAG-2200-FCO40-3155-Hong-Kong-recruitment-schemes-for-the-UK-Civil-Service-1990 — Page 22

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THE DEPARTMENT

OF TRANSPORT

DIRECTORATE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

LAMBETH BRIDGE HOUSE

LONDON SE1 7SB

@

TELEX

886598

FAX

01-238 1111

DIRECT LINE

01-238

SWITCHBOARD 01-238 3000

John Morris Esq

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Room WH302

King Charles Street

LONDON SW1

Dear John

Your Ref:

Our RefApril 24, 1990

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нко

340110

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

2 0 JUN 1990

DESK OFFICER INDEX

PA

REGISTRY

RECRUITMENT IN HONG KONG

Action Taken

I am sorry not to have let you know earlier about the initial results of my visit to Hong Kong last month. Can I say first of all how grateful I was for your advice before I went.

Preliminary indications are that there is already considerable interest among both the ex-pat and Chinese communities in securing jobs, in our case in the UK, sooner rather than later. Whilst some of the ex-pats were simply looking for a new post in the UK when their present contracts expire (rather than seek a new one in HK), one

or two indicated that events of the last months had led to a decision not to seek further appointments in HK.

Interest from the Chinese community was of course the unknown quantity and given the upheaval that coming to the UK would pose for them, I was pleasantly surprised at the response.

It was however clear that if they did not get jobs with us (or another UK employer), then they would simply look elsewhere in the world. I was struck by the frequency, not to say audaciousness, of some advertisements in the South China Morning Post and the HK Standard placed by "consultants" offering assistance with resettlement in New Zealand and Canada predominantly. Before I left, I was already aware that a number of UK civil engineering contractors had already decided to test the market (and one or two had already done so).

For the record, 9 ex-pats approached us while we were there and another has subsequently written. 10 Chinese (and 1 Sri Lankan) came to see us, 1 wrote before we arrived and two more have subsequently written to me. The next series of formal

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