'Unpopular' Labour Department Urged To Revamp

Hong Kong's unemployment rate dropped about half a percentage point between 2008 and 2017, but the number of job seekers registering with the Labour Department fell by 70 percent.

This was among some of the findings published by the Director of Audit on Wednesday, who called on the government to conduct a comprehensive review of its services after finding they are growing less and less popular among job seekers.

It said job referrals through the department were down 45 percent between 2014 and 2018, and direct placements dropped 48 percent over the same period. The number of visitors to the city's 13 job centres fell 18 percent between 2016 and last year.

The auditor said it is clear that the needs of job seekers have changed, and the Labour Department should review whether its employment services meet those needs and are cost effective.

Another area for review that was suggested is the job fairs that the department conducts.

More than 900 district-based job fairs were arranged in each of the last three years, but the number of interviews arranged at each one wasn't high: an average of 43 per fair in 2016, 33 in 2017, and just 26 in 2018. On average, only three people landed a job from each of these fairs last year.

The Commissioner for Labour said he agrees with the auditor's recommendations.