ENG-1982 — Page 81

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Employment

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業就

HONG KONG has a resourceful and energetic workforce of 2 405 000 – comprising 1 550 100 men and 854 900 women as estimated from findings of the September 1982 General Household Survey. They are engaged in: agriculture and fishing, mining and quarrying, 34 800; manufacturing, 876 800; electricity, gas and water, 12 100; construction, 209 600; wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, 518 900; transport, storage and communications, 193 500; financing, insurance, real estate and business services, 125 400; community, social and personal services, 433 700; and unclassifiable activities, 200.

An establishment survey of Employment, Vacancies and Payroll in the manufacturing sector, held in September, recorded 856 137 people engaged in 47 089 establishments. It covered working proprietors and partners, employees receiving pay, and unpaid family workers affiliated to business organisations, but excluded the self-employed, out-workers, and other unpaid workers who were included in the household-type survey. Some 362 955 people - the largest share of the manufacturing workforce - were engaged in the textile and wearing apparel industries. The electrical industry and the plastics industry were the next two largest employers. Details of the distribution of manufacturing establishments, and of the number of people engaged in them, are given in Appendices 13 and 14.

The bulk of the manufacturing workforce is concentrated in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. However, industrial development in the New Territories is increasing and more than one-quarter of the manufacturing workforce now works there.

Labour Legislation

During 1982, 13 items of labour legislation were enacted to provide for higher standards in the safety, health and welfare of workers. This brings the total number of items of labour legislation enacted in the past decade to 157.

The Employment Ordinance was amended in 1982 to raise the wage ceiling for non-manual employees from $6,000 to $7,500 and to increase the number of statutory holidays. Minor amendments were made to the regulations made under the ordinance. The Employees' Compensation Ordinance was amended to provide for compulsory insurance, for the establishment of a two-tier Employees' Compensation Board to assess the amounts of compensation, and for measures to expedite the processing of employees' compensation cases.

The Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance was being considered to give effect to remaining recommendations in the Labour Adviser's report. A new set of regulations was introduced to ensure workers' safety in connection with the use of electricity in industrial undertakings. The Factories and Industrial Undertakings Regulations were amended to provide for the provision and wearing of ear protectors. The