ENG-2003 — Page 176

EMPLOYMENT

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Measures in Response to SARS Outbreak

In response to the outbreak of SARS and to prepare for the entry of school leavers into the labour market in the summer, two employment/training packages, coordinated by the Labour Department, were introduced in May and July to create a total of 53 550 employment-related and training openings, at the cost of $1.15 billion. Of these openings, 17 000 were training places offered under the Skills Enhancement Project to provide trade-specific and generic training to employees of industries hard-hit by SARS- such as catering, retail, tourism, hotel, passenger transport, building decoration, real estate, and airport and related industries.

As part of the SARS-related employment packages, the 'Special Incentive Allowance Scheme for Local Domestic Helpers (LDHs)' was launched, through the 'Integrated Scheme for LDHs' administered by the Employees Retraining Board, in June. The incentive scheme aims to promote the service of LDHs for household cleaning and to address the mismatch in supply and demand in the LDH market arising from geographical locations and working hours. A sum of $60 million has been earmarked to provide an allowance to qualified LDHs who are willing to work in a district different from the one in which they reside or during 'unsocial hours' (i.e., 5 pm to 9 am). It is estimated that some 8 000 LDHs will benefit from the scheme.

To help needy employers in the worst-hit industries. including the tourism, restaurants, retail and entertainment businesses - to tide over the difficult time and to preserve jobs, the Government established a low-interest Loan Guarantee Scheme, with a commitment of $3.5 billion. The department assisted in administering and publicising the scheme. A total of 1 802 applications had been received at the close of applications on July 31. Of these, 1 559 applications with a total loan amount of $499,204,781 were approved. The successful applicants employed 18 236 staff altogether.

To help resolve labour relations issues arising from the outbreak of SARS, the Labour Department mapped out enlightened human resources strategies in collaboration with the various industry-based tripartite committees and Human Resource Managers' Clubs. The department also published guidelines and distributed reference materials to employers and employees through newspapers and the electronic media.

Labour Market Situation

In the fourth quarter of 2003, Hong Kong's labour force decreased by 0.5 per cent over the corresponding period of 2002. The labour force stood at 3.5 million, of whom 56.1 per cent were males and 43.9 per cent were females. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2003 was 7.3 per cent while the underemployment rate was 3.3 per cent, as compared with 7.2 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively, a year earlier.

Of those employed, the majority (85.5 per cent) were engaged in the service sectors 31.5 per cent in wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels; 27.2 per cent in community, social and personal services; 15.5 per cent in financing, insurance, real estate and business services; and 11.3 per cent in transport, storage and communications. Only 5.2 per cent worked in the manufacturing sector.

Owing to a structural shift in employment during the past decade, the number of persons engaged in the service sectors is now over 10 times as many as in the