The SUN HK : First of 3k imported care workers may start arriving in next 2 months

Labor Secretary Chris Sun takes close look at Filipino workers being trained on elderly care, during his visit to the Philippines last month

Hong Kong may begin hiring in the next two months the first of the 3,000 care workers from abroad who will work in residential care homes (RCHs), a big number of whom are likely to come from the Philippines.

This was hinted at by today Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun, in a written answer to Legislative Council member Shiu Ka-fai’s question on Hong Kong’s labor shortage.

“We have formulated a special scheme to import care workers from RCHs to address the acute shortage of care workers in the RCH sector by providing greater flexibility and more streamlined procedures to import care workers,” he said.

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Sun’s announcement follows an interview with the Manila Times, in which he said Filipino care workers have an advantage over their counterparts from other countries, as the training they receive is at par with the Hong Kong standard for care giving.

Early last month Sun made a three-day visit to the Philippines last month, which included a stop at a training center of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to take a closer look at the training of overseas-bound Filipino workers, including the scope of competencies, quality assurance and recruitment arrangements.

Sun also paid courtesy calls on Secretary Susan Ople of the Department of Migrant Workers, Secretary of Labor and Employment, Bienvenido Laguesma, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo and the Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Eduardo Punay.

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These meetings reportedly focused on strengthening the collaboration between the two governments on the protection of the rights and welfare of Filipino workers in Hong Kong.

Sun assured the officials of Hong Kong’s commitment to protecting foreign domestic workers' rights, and briefed them on government efforts to enhance workers’ protection, regulate employment agencies, and help migrants cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new caregiver positions will supplement the 4,000 imported workers already here, all from the Mainland.

Also in his statement to Legco, Sun said Hong Kong is reviewing its manpower policies for the construction industry.

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“… the Construction Industry Council released the latest Construction Manpower Forecast last week. The Development Bureau (DEVB) has indicated that it would make reference to the forecast data and assess how to enhance manpower supply through a multi-pronged strategy including leveraging local manpower resources, enhancing training and bringing in non-local resources as necessary, as well as reducing manpower needs through productivity uplifting measures. The DEVB's target is to present the assessment and a holistic strategy for addressing manpower needs of the construction sector by mid-2023,” he added.

Sun said that since December 28, 2022, the government has ruled that for vacancies falling under the 13 professions, employers are no longer required to provide proof to substantiate their difficulties in local recruitment in to have their recruits admitted.