We should welcome imported workers but keep locals in mind
- Hong Kong’s aviation industry, in particular, is in desperate need of more manpower, so it is good that staff will soon be arriving from overseas to fill gaps without compromising opportunities for residents
Aviation workers recruited from outside Hong Kong are expected to start arriving in the city for training in less than two months. It was encouraging to learn that sorely needed support for the understaffed sector is on the way, and it is hoped that the new hires will arrive in time to ease the annual holiday travel rush from December.
Hong Kong Airline Service Providers Association president Vivien Lau Man-yee’s announcement of a timeline for the workers was welcomed by airline executives and a coalition of carriers who said it would “pave the way” for more flights and post-pandemic economic recovery.
Lau’s projection last Tuesday came a day after authorities approved nearly 2,900 non-local positions under a controversial plan to bypass Labour Advisory Board vetting as 20,000 workers are brought in to support the aviation as well as construction and transport sectors.
About 45 per cent of the aviation sector’s quota of 6,300 imported workers has now been endorsed, filling front-line, non-supervisory roles such as warehouse operator, cargo handler, aircraft tug driver and loader operator. A total of 2,841 applications from 28 firms were approved. More than half will fill roles as passenger service officers, ramp services agents, and aircraft mechanics or technicians.
Hong Kong’s first batch of imported airport staff to start work earliest December
This week the construction sector applied to bring in nearly 4,000 workers under the scheme, accounting for nearly a third of the industry’s quota of up to 12,000 labourers. Authorities recently said transport industry players had also submitted applications for about 94 per cent of their quota of 1,700 imported workers.
The fact that such recruiting was needed for the booming aviation industry, which has long appealed to local workers, only underscored the severity of Hong Kong’s labour crisis. The airport now employs about 53,000 people, about a third less than it did before the pandemic.
A group representing airlines that fly to and from the city said the labour shortage had been an obstacle to resumption of flights. About 20 per cent of the group’s 72 members have yet to resume flights to Hong Kong’s airport, which handled 3.3 million passengers in June, just over half of the 2019 level.
Given the urgent need in the critical aviation sector, authorities and the industry deserve credit for forging ahead with imported workers despite the additional training, transport and housing required.
Helping the industry take flight again is important, but attention must not be diverted from ensuring safety standards are maintained. Industry players should also continue monitoring the employment market closely to make sure opportunities for local workers are not grounded.
