LCQ20: Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme
Following is a question by Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (May 7):
Question:
The 2023 Policy Address announced the launch of a three-year Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme (the Pilot Scheme), targeting at elderly and middle-aged persons aged 40 or above who have not been in paid employment for three consecutive months or more. To encourage these persons to rejoin the workforce, those who have worked for six consecutive months will be provided with a maximum allowance of $10,000, while those who have worked for 12 consecutive months will be given an additional maximum allowance of $10,000. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will further improve the Pilot Scheme, such as increasing the amount of allowance, and strengthening employment counselling, job referral and post-placement follow-up services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(2) whether performance indicators have been set for the Pilot Scheme, and whether the effectiveness of the Scheme in promoting re-employment among elderly and middle-aged persons is reviewed in a timely manner; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Launched by the Labour Department (LD) on July 15, 2024, the three-year Re-employment Allowance Pilot Scheme (REA Scheme) encourages persons aged 40 or above who have not been in paid employment for three consecutive months or more to join the employment market. Each eligible participant who has worked full-time for six consecutive months will be provided with a re-employment allowance (REA) of $10,000, while those who have worked full-time for 12 consecutive months will be given an additional allowance of $10,000. Half-rate REA will be given to those who have worked part-time. Each participant may receive a maximum REA of $20,000 during the implementation of the REA Scheme. In response to the Member’s question, the reply is provided below.
The response to the REA Scheme is very favourable. From July 15, 2024 toMarch 31, 2025, over 38000 participants and more than 16000 placements were recorded, far exceeding the original target of benefiting 6000 employed persons during the three-year implementation period.
The LD has been providing free and diversified employment services for participants of the REA Scheme. Participants may search for jobs through the LD’s Interactive Employment Service website (www.jobs.gov.hk), job centres across the territory, the Telephone Employment Service Hotline (29690888) or other channels. In addition, the LD from time to time stages large-scale job fairs targeting the elderly and middle-aged as well as district-based job fairs on part-time employment, etc, to promote the employment of the elderly and middle-aged. In tandem, the Government has commissioned two service providers, which have set up 12service spots across the territory and two telephone hotlines, to assist with the implementation of the Scheme.
The LD will closely monitor the implementation of the REA Scheme and make timely adjustments to the implementation arrangements in light of the employment market situation and the views of the stakeholders.
The LD plans to conduct a mid-term review on the REA Scheme in the first quarter of 2026 to evaluate the effectiveness of the Scheme and map out the way forward. As the number of employment placements may be affected by various factors such as the economy, labour market situation and the personal circumstances of job seekers, it is not appropriate to set key performance indicators for the REA Scheme.
Source: AI-generated images
LCQ13: General Employment Policy and Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals
Following is a question by the Hon Kingsley Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (May 7):
Question:
According to government data, in 2024-2025 (as at February 2025), among the approved cases under the General Employment Policy and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (Two Talent Schemes), nearly 50 per cent of the applicants earned a monthly salary of less than $20,000. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of applications received, approved and rejected by the Government respectively under the Two Talent Schemes in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, with breakdowns on “short-term employment” and “non-short-term employment” cases;
(2)among the non-short-term employment cases approved by the Government in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 as mentioned in (1), of (i) the distribution of the industries/sectors in which the applicants are employed and the median wage, and (ii) the minimum and maximum monthly salaries of the applicants and the respective industries/sectors in which they are employed (broken down by year and talent scheme); and
(3)among the short-term employment cases approved by the Government in 2024-2025 as mentioned in (1), of the minimum and maximum daily wages of the applicants, and the respective industries/sectors in which they are employed (set out by talent scheme)?
Reply:
President,
The General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) are market-driven employment-tied admission schemes. Where a job vacancy arises, an enterprise, having through the market availability test proved difficulties to fill the vacancy in local recruitment, may apply to employ an outside talent via one of the aforesaid employment-tied admission schemes. The employed outside talent should have a good education background, normally a bachelor’s degree or higher qualification in the relevant field, and have been engaged in a job relevant to his/her academic qualifications or work experience. The remuneration package should also be commensurate with the local prevailing market level for professionals. As the professions on the Talent List are in local manpower shortage, enterprises could be exempted from the market availability tests if the positions for recruiting outside talents under the aforesaid admission schemes fall within the professions on the Talent List. The Immigration Department (ImmD) has put in place mechanisms for assessing applications under the talent admission schemes in a rigorous manner to ensure that approved applications meet the eligibility criteria of the schemes, including that their remuneration packages are broadly commensurate with the prevailing market levels for relevant professions at the time of applications.
Our reply to the Member’s questions, in consultation with the ImmD, is as follows:
(1)In the past two years, over 67 000 applications were received under the GEP, and the numbers of applications approved and refused during the same period were nearly 63 000 and 1 000 respectively. Among the approved applications, around 70 per cent were in respect of short-term positions with contract duration of less than 12 months, while the remaining applications, around 30 per cent, were long-term positions with contract duration of 12 months or more. Over 53 000 applications were received under the ASMTP in the past two years, and the numbers of applications approved and refused during the same period were about 47 000 and 600 respectively. About 46 per cent of the approved applications were in respect of short-term positions, while long-term positions accounted for about 54 per cent of the approved applications. The breakdowns of the statistics are at Annex I.
(2) and (3) In the past two years, among those approved to take up long-term positions in Hong Kong under the GEP, most were engaged in the tourism industry, followed by academic research and education, and financial services. As for those approved under the ASMTP to take up long-term positions in Hong Kong, most were engaged in commerce and trade, followed by financial services, and academic research and education. Among the approved incoming talents, most have monthly remuneration falling within the range of $20,000 to $39,999, followed by those in the range of $40,000 to $79,999. As the job nature, job type and contract duration of individual cases are different, their salary levels also vary and should not be put in direct comparison.
The breakdowns of the numbers of approved applicants taking up long-term positions in Hong Kong under the aforesaid employment-tied admission schemes by industry/sector and monthly remuneration are at Annex II.
The ImmD does not maintain the other statistical breakdowns sought in the question.
Source: AI-generated images
