Labour chief defends worker import scheme despite Hongkongers' job loss claims
Chris Sun rejects calls to suspend importation of workers despite preliminary evidence of local staff being displaced
Hong Kong’s labour minister has rejected calls to halt the importation of workers amid a manpower shortage across various sectors, despite authorities discovering preliminary evidence in two cases of companies dismissing local employees after bringing in staff from outside the city.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han on Sunday reiterated that the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme, which covers positions such as waiters and salespeople, prioritised local workers.
He added that employers were only permitted to import staff if they were unable to hire a local candidate after a four-week recruitment exercise.
“We are looking into whether any employers laid off local workers after hiring imported labourers and have identified two cases where preliminary evidence suggests this might have occurred,” Sun said on a television programme, adding due process must be followed, allowing them time to appeal.
“We have received over a hundred complaints and most of them are unsubstantiated.”
The minister also said there was an ongoing investigation into a case where a local candidate expressed interest in and was qualified for a role during the four-week recruitment period but was not hired.