Hong Kong Labour and Welfare Bureau: Unlocking "Silver Workforce" to Promote Employment for the Elderly.

Today, at the meeting of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare of Hong Kong, Sun Yuk Han, responded to questions from Member of the Council Lin Chun Sing, stating that in terms of encouraging the elderly to participate in the labor market, the working group has proposed several targeted measures to promote "silver productivity" in the 30 measures announced on May 27 this year to promote the silver economy. These measures include launching priority training and advisory services for people over 50, reviewing the "Re-employment Subsidy Trial Scheme" and "Middle-aged and Elderly Employment Program," as well as enhancing the promotion of elderly-friendly employment measures. The Hong Kong SAR Government believes that resources should be concentrated on implementing the above measures to more effectively promote the employment of older people. (1) On the premise of safeguarding the priority employment of local workers, the government moderately allows employers to introduce foreign workers to supplement the Hong Kong workforce. The Labour Department of Hong Kong has implemented the "Supplementary Labour Optimization Plan" (Optimization Plan) since September 4, 2023, suspending the provision that 26 categories of positions under the original "Supplementary Labour Plan" and non-technical or low-skilled positions generally cannot introduce foreign labor for a period of two years. When implementing the Optimization Plan, the Labour Department of Hong Kong is committed to safeguarding the priority employment of local workers. Employers applying for the Optimization Plan must conduct four weeks of local recruitment and prioritize hiring suitable local workers to fill vacancies at a monthly salary not lower than the median for similar positions in the market at that time. The Optimization Plan stipulates that employers cannot offer employment conditions less favorable than those approved by the Labour Department of Hong Kong to any local job seeker during local recruitment, nor can they impose any age, gender, or other restrictive requirements on job seekers. The Optimization Plan also requires employers to continuously comply with the requirement of a two-to-one ratio of full-time local employees to foreign workers. At the same time, employers cannot replace local employees with foreign workers. In the event of layoffs, employers should lay off foreign workers before local workers to safeguard job opportunities for local workers. To further strengthen the priority employment of local workers, the Hong Kong Labour Department implemented new measures on June 17, including displaying the name of applicants on the "Interactive Employment Service" website when posting job vacancies for Optimization Plan applications that have undergone preliminary screening and four weeks of local recruitment from that date, increasing transparency in local recruitment and encouraging job seekers to apply for relevant positions. The Labour Department of Hong Kong will review the experience and effectiveness of the Optimization Plan, including the scope, operation, and implementation arrangements of the plan; measures to promote and ensure priority employment of local workers (including older workers); measures to protect the rights of imported workers; and other provisions and matters related to the plan. The government will fully consider and balance the views of stakeholders during the review process to formulate arrangements for the Optimization Plan and beyond. (2) The Hong Kong SAR Government is committed to eliminating any discriminatory attitudes or behaviors. In the employment sector, the government encourages employers to evaluate the work capabilities of applicants or employees based on the principle of "talent is valued regardless of age" according to fair and uniform selection criteria. According to the results of surveys conducted by the government's Census and Statistics Department, the vast majority of respondents do not consider age to be a significant factor affecting employment, indicating that age discrimination is not significant in the Hong Kong job market. The Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to promote and ensure equal employment opportunities through the dissemination and promotion of information on equal employment opportunities, as well as strengthen training and retraining to enhance the employability of individuals of different ages. (3) It is suggested to encourage employers to make more voluntary contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) for their employees aged 65 or above in order to receive tax incentives, with the aim of encouraging more elderly employees to consider staying in the labor market after the age of 65 to contribute to economic growth and increase retirement savings. As some opinions believe that the effectiveness of this single measure is not significant, it is proposed to combine this measure with other measures for the elderly to generate synergistic effects. Therefore, the suggestion has been included in the work of the Task Force on Promoting the Silver Economy in the "Policy Address 2024" for further examination. After reviewing, the Task Force believes that the proposal complicates the policy objectives of the MPF and the restrictions on voluntary contributions by employees raise doubts about the effectiveness of the proposal.