Hong Kong’s youth employment program has been well underway

All the Hong Kong young people employed under the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme have started work in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. PHOTO XINHUA HONG KONG — Young participants of the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme relish their living and working experience in the mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, showing noticeably more faith, understanding and interest as they chart their career paths in the region.

The Hong Kong government launched the program in early 2021, and encourages businesses with operations in both the Hong Kong and the nine mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area to recruit and deploy local university and tertiary-institution graduates to work in mainland GBA cities. Most of the employees in the program have been in office for nine months as of mid- 2022.

A phasic impact study co-conducted by MWYO, an independent think tank that focuses on Hong Kong youth issues, together with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, shows that the program has been well received by participating employees.

The online surveys were conducted from September to October 2021 for Phase 1 and March to April 2022 for Phase 2.

Phase 3 of the study will be conducted in November and December - the last two months before the program ends. Among the 123 respondents who completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 questionnaires, the number of employees willing to work in the Greater Bay Area for more than two years increased by 5 percent to 44 percent, according to Phase 2 survey results.

88 percent of employees pinned their hopes on the program to help them further their careers, 69 percent expecting to gain more experience, and 58 percent hoping to expand their networks.

The employees have been familiar with the various aspects of life in the mainland. The percentage of employees who understands the norms and organizational culture of mainland companies increased by 23 percent, compared to the two phases of the study.

The proportion of employees who understood the subsidies provided by mainland authorities and healthcare services there also increased by 23 and 14 percent. The survey showed that there is still some ignorance about the mainland's tax payment requirements and social security system.

As shown in the Phase 2 survey, employees have become more accustomed to living and working on the mainland, and are more willing to mingle with the locals. 73 percent of the employees said they often or sometimes socialized with their mainland friends, up from 65 percent in Phase 1.

Most employees said they spent their spare time traveling and socializing with their mainland friends on the Chinese mainland.

In view of the findings, Law Cheung-kwok, MWYO special advisor, said that it is essential to offer more GBA employment opportunities for Hong Kong youths development. The success of the scheme depends on the participation of young workers and employers. Employees under the scheme may learn from each other and persuade their peers in Hong Kong to consider applying for work in the GBA, thus promoting overall GBA youth employment. If the program were to be terminated, he posits that the positive outcome attained so far and the anticipated peer effect would fall by the wayside. He said that the promotional effect of GBA youth employment would be greatly diminished.

He said that the government should continue its role as a leader and facilitator in promoting youth employment in the Greater Bay Area.