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Employment

As at end-2016, the scheme had recorded about 78,000 Hong Kong youth participants and welcomed more than 8,300 youths from the partner economies to Hong Kong.

Employees Retraining Board

The Employees Retraining Board is a statutory body set up under the Employees Retraining Ordinance. The board provides, under its Manpower Development Scheme, market-driven training and employment support services through about 100 appointed training bodies that operate a total of around 400 training centres. People aged 15 or above with up to sub-degree education may enrol on its full-time, placement-tied courses and half-day or evening generic skills training courses or courses under the Skills Upgrading Scheme Plus. As at December 2016, there were around 700 courses covering 28 industries.

Dedicated Training

The board provides dedicated training and employment support to young people, new arrivals, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, those recovered from work injuries, and rehabilitated former drug abusers and former offenders.

Employment Support Services

The board operates Smart Living, Smart Baby Care and Smart Starter schemes to provide trainees with registration, referral and follow-up services for relevant job vacancies. It also operates three service centres in Kowloon East, Kowloon West and Tin Shui Wai, as well as 10 service spots in Kwai Tsing and Tsuen Wan, to provide residents in those districts with training support services.

Continuing Education Fund

The government subsidises continuing studies for adults. Eligible applicants who complete approved courses receive reimbursement of 80 per cent of the fees paid, capped at $10,000 per person. In 2016, about 28,000 applications to open Continuing Education Fund accounts were approved and subsidies totalling $153 million were paid out.

Labour Relations

The Labour Department provides a voluntary conciliation service to help employers and employees outside the government resolve disputes and claims. It also promotes the Employment Ordinance and good people management measures.

The department runs nine industry-based tripartite committees to foster industry-level dialogue and cooperation among employers, employees and the government. These committees, covering catering, cement and concrete, construction, hotel and tourism, logistics, printing, property management, retail, and theatre, provide effective forums for members to discuss issues of common concern to their industries.

The department also works with 18 human resources managers' clubs to encourage members to maintain effective employer-employee communication and adopt family-friendly and elderly-friendly employment practices in their organisations and sectors.

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