ENG-1958 — Page 28

16

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

number of persons directly or indirectly dependent on industry is estimated to be about 1.4 million, or 50% of the total population.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Having described the growth of industry itself and the difficulties with which it has been confronted, it is now necessary to say something of the conditions under which the Colony's exports are produced.

Working conditions in factories in Hong Kong, as elsewhere in the world, vary considerably. In some, for example the large spinning mills, they are excellent. The wage rates are reasonable and the workers enjoy free dormitory accommodation, subsidized meals, free medical attention, schooling, and other benefits. Even where conditions are apparently less satisfactory, these are fre- quently mitigated by the traditional clan relationship between proprietor and worker and by the custom of feeding and some- times accommodating the workers on the premises. Cases have been known in small establishments where the proprietor continued to take meals in the factory with his workmen while they were on strike.

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Wage rates in industry as a whole vary from $7.00 to $12.00 a day for skilled workmen, $4.00 to $8.00 a day for semi-skilled, and $2.50 to $6.00 a day for unskilled. While most of the wages paid in industry appear to be low by Western standards, one must bear in mind that the pattern of living is different, and that the worker's cost of living is also lower. Although wages have risen during the past eight years, fluctuations in the cost of living have been very slight. The Retail Price Index, by which movements in the cost of living are measured to a base 100=March 1947, has changed little over the past eight years, with an average of 118.

There are various reasons why radical improvement in the Colony's working conditions cannot be achieved overnight. The principal one is that improvement must follow expanding outlets for the Colony's goods. Each restriction on exports tends to dis- courage capital investment and makes it more difficult for manu- facturers to plan improvements. Other reasons lie in the pressure of population on jobs and accommodation. Although there is a shortage of skilled labour, there is a great excess of semi-skilled