ENG-2014 — Page 146

Chapter 6

Employment

The government facilitates employment, safeguards workers' rights and benefits, ensures workplaces are safe and healthy, and promotes harmonious employer- employee relations.

Employment is the key to people's livelihood. Facing the challenges of continuing uncertainties in the global economic situation, the government has adopted various strategies, including upgrading workers' skills to make them more employable and competitive, improving the business environment, introducing measures to create jobs and enhancing labour market efficiency, all to improve the utilisation of human resources in Hong Kong and support the further development of our economy.

In 2014, the Employees Retraining Board offered 130,000 training places to help in-service workers upgrade their skills, and to help those seeking job change and the unemployed re- enter the labour market. The government also continued to offer special help to the less competitive workers. The Labour Department assists job seekers to enter or re-enter the labour market through a number of employment initiatives, including the Employment Programme for the Middle-aged, the Work Trial Scheme, the Youth Employment and Training Programme, the Youth Employment Start, the Work Orientation and Placement Scheme for job seekers with disabilities, and job fairs.

The government promotes harmonious employer-employee relations, protects employees' rights and benefits, and safeguards employees' safety and health at work.

Labour Market Situation

Hong Kong's labour force totalled 3.88 million people in 2014, representing a rise of 0.5 per cent over 2013. In 2014, 51.3 per cent of the labour force were men and 48.7 per cent were women.

The majority, or 88.5 per cent, were employed in the service sectors: 31.5 per cent in the import/ export, wholesale and retail trades, and accommodation (covering hotels, guesthouses, boarding houses and other establishments providing short-term accommodation) and food

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