- According to Census and Statistics Department data, labour force fell 2.4 per cent year on year, to 3,776,300 in 2022
- Experts warn that the decline will continue for one to two years
Aside from 2003 and 2010, Hong Kong’s labour force increased until 2018. Photo: May TseHong Kong last year suffered the biggest drop in its working population since records began almost four decades ago, losing more than 94,000 employees, according to official statistics.
The downward trend has continued since 2019, when the city was hit by social unrest, with 220,500 workers in total leaving the labour market over the past four years.
Experts warned that the decline, caused by an increase in the number of people retiring and a wave of emigration, would continue for one to two years. They urged the government to extend the retirement age and formulate other policies to release more people into the workforce.
“Many of the people who were born in the 1960s, when Hong Kong was experiencing the post-war baby boom, have reached retirement age. Meanwhile, the city is also seeing many emigrate to other regions and countries,” said Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, associate dean of the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of social sciences.
According to Census and Statistics Department data released on Monday, the labour force including foreign domestic workers fell 2.4 per cent year on year to 3,776,300 in 2022. The percentage dip was the largest since 1985 when records began.
The city’s workforce dropped 0.4 per cent year on year in 1989, when the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing triggered an emigration wave from Hong Kong. The labour force fell 0.2 per cent the following year, then rose 2 per cent in 1991 before dipping 0.4 per cent in 1992. Aside from 2003 and 2010, the labour force increased for the next 25 years until 2018.
But the trend reversed in 2019, with a 0.2 per cent decrease followed by a 1.7 per cent dip to 3,918,500 in 2020 – the previous record drop.
The statistics also showed 499,500 people were aged 60 or above last year, accounting for the biggest share of the workforce, at 13 per cent. Each of seven groups aged between 25 years and 59 contributed between 10 and 12.7 per cent of the working population.
Among the 94,100 who left the labour force last year, those aged 25 to 29 formed the biggest group with 28,200 workers. About 59,700 were aged in groups between 30 and 49.
While Monday’s data did not show which sectors were hit hardest, other government statistics suggested there were 73,150 job vacancies in the private sector last December, a 20 per cent increase over the preceding year.
The education industry was the most in need of people with 7,750 positions to be filled, followed by the transport and logistics sector with 7,390 jobs available. Human health services with 6,510 vacancies ranked third.
Official figures released in February showed Hong Kong’s population had dropped for a third straight year to 7,333,200 in 2022, a 1 per cent decrease from 2021.
The city recorded a net outflow of 60,000 residents, while births plunged to a record low of 32,500 and were outpaced by the 62,100 deaths in 2022.
Yip of HKU said professionals and middle management people might account for most of those moving out of Hong Kong.
He estimated the trend of a falling working population would continue at least for the coming year or two, though the gap might not be as great.
Emigration’s drain on Hong Kong’s schools
“People from the baby boom generation will retire successively. But whether the city will suffer more working population outflow depends on whether the local government has done its job to revive the post-pandemic economy,” Yip said.
He suggested the government should also consider promoting employment of the elderly more as a way to get people to rejoin the workforce.
Lawmaker Chau Siu-chung from the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions said he expected more than half of the lost workforce to remain in the city.
“These include stay-at-home mums who need to take care of their children due to the pandemic, as well as those working in pandemic-battered industries, like the tourism and catering industry, who will consider waiting for a while for better conditions,” said Chau, adding he drew this conclusion after his federation interviewed various unions over the past year.
He said Hong Kong’s labour force participation rate, which stood at 58.2 per cent in 2022, was lower than the 68 per cent in Macau. Chau accused the government of not doing enough to get more people into the labour force.
“I see the government’s determination to introduce foreign labour is stronger than its devotion to encourage more local people to rejoin the labour market,” Chau said.
“If that continues, the city will see a further drop in the working population.”
Lawmaker Aron Kwok Wai-keung of the labour functional constituency said most of those who had moved out of Hong Kong were mid-level management.
He urged the government to provide more details about those who had left the city.
“So far we have no information about which sector is suffering most from the declining work population … without the breakdown, we have little clue into which field we should inject more resources,” Kwok said.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has laid out plans to lure global talent since taking office last July, with a target of attracting at least 35,000 people annually from 2023 to 2025.
As of mid-February, the government had approved more than 10,000 applications under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, which offers successful candidates a two-year visa and aims to attract experienced high-fliers and graduates from the world’s top institutions.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han last Wednesday said the government would actively consider importing labour for industries with obvious manpower shortages while giving priority to safeguarding the jobs of locals.
The government will start receiving applications from local care homes to import workers later this year, with a quota of 3,000.
Hospital Authority chief executive Dr Tony Ko Pat-sing hosted recruitment events in Britain at the weekend to encourage non-locally trained students and doctors, who had ties to Hong Kong, to join the city’s public healthcare system to combat staff shortages.