The Hongkong-Shanghai Economic Development Association (The Association), the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute of Lingnan University (The Institute) and The Office of Legislative Council Member Dr. Chow Man-kong jointly organized a press conference on “Talent Policy Study – Manpower Situation of Construction Professionals in Hong Kong” on 26th October 2022. The event was chaired by Dr. Terence Chan Ho-wah, Vice President of The Association, Professor Ho Lok-sang, Director of The Institute, and Dr. Chow Man-kong, Associate Director of The Institute, presented the study. Mr. Kenneth Lee, Vice President of The Association, Mr. Tony K H Cheng, Executive Committee Member of The Association, and Legislative Council Member Hon Yim Kong were invited to attend.
Group photo of the keynote speaker
The present study highlights that Hong Kong is facing a decline in the rate of talent intake, a wave of retirement of senior professionals, an aging population amid a falling fertility rate. This has led to “succession” difficulties in a number of industries, meaning that departing professionals cannot be replaced by suitable personnel. The shortage of professional manpower in the construction industry has grown acute, but the authorities have not adopted an effective and proactive manpower policy to deal with it. An impending crisis in the industry is looming. With a number of large-scale construction projects about to commence, whether the construction industry can cope with the huge demand for workers including professionals is of great concern to the community. The Chief Executive, Mr. John Lee Ka-chiu, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of talents to the development of Hong Kong. In his latest Policy Address 2022, Mr Lee noted that attracting talents is crucial to Hong Kong’s competitiveness. Lingnan University’s study noted that the construction industry is deeply affected by both macroeconomic conditions and government policies. The SAR Government must do a better job in manpower planning. Only with a proactive, systematic, and people-oriented approach can Hong Kong succeed in attracting professionals to Hong Kong only so can Hong Kong complete the various projects as planned.
Question and answer session
Dr. Terence Chan noted that there is a scramble for talents all over the world. For instance, Shenzhen continues to improve its system for attracting talents. It now offers enticing incentives to lure talents and strong support to help them settle down in Shenzhen. Singapore has set salary thresholds for its talent admission scheme that are not excessively demanding and regularly reviews its effectiveness. The vetting period is now down to just 10 days. While Hong Kong has a number of schemes meant to attract talents to Hong Kong, there is no comprehensive policy that offer incentives to lure different kinds of talents to come to Hong Kong. Compared to the period before and after the epidemic, the total number of professionals attracted to Hong Kong through the General Employment Policy, the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents, the Professionals, and the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme has dropped significantly, from over 50,000 to only about 25,000. This shows that the epidemic has become a major deterrent to the arrival of foreign talents. This, coupled with Hong Kong's high cost of living and small living space, has weakened the attractiveness of the talent admission schemes. With insufficient pull factors and too many push factors, Hong Kong's policies and measures to attract and retain talents would require a complete revamp. The latest Policy Address 2022 proposes a series of new measures to attract foreign talents, among which the “Top Talent Pass Scheme” has a higher entry threshold and shorter visa validity than Singapore's “Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass”, making it less effective in attracting talents compared to Singapore. Under Singapore's latest reform, all employment permits will only take 10 days to be approved. The talent admission scheme, moreover, provides for following up on the working conditions of talents after entry. There is also more flexibility for permit holders. All this indicates a more systematic approach in Singapore’s talent policy. There is still room for improvement in Hong Kong's policy measures to attract talents.
Dr Terence Chan, Vice-President of the Hongkong-Shanghai Economic Development Association
According to Professor Ho Lok-sang, the Institute’s study conducted four focus group meetings with members of the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape sectors. It also successfully got the support of nine companies engaged in local construction projects share their data on the current employment of construction professionals. They observed that the government’s tendency to follow the “lowest bid wins” criterion when assessing tenders. This, together with the high salaries and stable employment for the same professionals in the government, makes it very difficult for the private sector to hire and retain experienced personnel. They also complained that most newcomers need to shape up their language skills. As well middle and senior professionals need to undergo more professional training and to broaden their horizons and enhance their professional and other skills.
Professor HO Lok-sang, Director of the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute
Dr. Chow Man-kong pointed out that the study proposed that the HKSAR Government should capitalize on the strong support from the motherland and Hong Kong's strengths developed over the years, and effectively recruit international talents and enhance Hong Kong’s status as a global financial centre and world city. In the case of the construction industry, the government should publicize as soon as possible the specific construction blueprints and implementation timelines of various development plans and projects, and switch from the “lowest bid wins” rule to a more comprehensive and scientific assessment of the overall merits of tenders (the introduction of the demerit point system in recent years is a step in this direction). This way both the industry and the talents can be better prepared and take advantage of the emerging opportunities. We need to recruit high-calibre professionals who are proficient in English from around the world in order to maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness. The study also proposed eight specific policy recommendations. One is that an inter-departmental human resources policy planning is required; another is that innovative approaches to showcase Hong Kong's future diversified development opportunities are highly recommended; still another is the establishment of a “Government-Business Dialogue Mechanism” between the construction industry and the government; still another is the inclusion of construction professionals to the Talent List; and finally the establishment of a “Construction Industry Talent Fund” scheme to provide housing/children's education and medical subsidies for talents, etc.
Dr. CHOW Man-kong, Associate Director of the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute
The report will be sent to the relevant policy bureaux in the hope of providing advice and suggestions on talent issues for the development of Hong Kong.
Mr. Kenneth Lee, Vice President of The Association, Mr. Tony K H Cheng, Executive Committee Member of The Association, and Legislative Council Member Hon Yim Kong
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