July 11, 2023
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will start accepting applications next week from businesses that are planning to import up to a total of 8,000 workers to help ease the labor crunch in the city’s transport sector.
The government’s Labour Importation Scheme for the Transport Sector will start accepting applications on Monday for up to 6,300 jobs in the aviation industry and 1,700 jobs in the public light bus/coach trade, according to an HKSAR government statement.
For the aviation industry, the specified jobs include passenger services officers, ramp services agents, cabin workers, aircraft maintenance mechanics/technicians, tractor drivers, warehouse operators/cargo handlers, equipment/loader operators, customer services agents, aircraft tug drivers and maintenance technicians
“Industry players have been continually enhancing their local recruitment and training efforts. However, it is still insufficient to plug the manpower gap in the relevant sectors,” a spokesman for the Transport and Logistics Bureau was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We need to adopt streamlined procedures to allow industry players to suitably import labor in order to expeditiously support the continual recovery of Hong Kong’s aviation industry and maintain the stability of public transport services,” he added.
The government last month announced that it aims to import a maximum of 20,000 workers to the city to ease severe manpower shortages in the construction, aviation and transport industries.
For the aviation industry, the specified jobs include passenger services officers, ramp services agents, cabin workers, aircraft maintenance mechanics/technicians, tractor drivers, warehouse operators/cargo handlers, equipment/loader operators, customer services agents, aircraft tug drivers and maintenance technicians.
Applicants must be registered businesses that have a contract, license or permit with the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) to operate their business at Hong Kong International Airport. Applicants also have to pay the AAHK $400 per month for each non-local worker, while the AAHK will contribute an annual lump sum in an amount equal to the total amount paid by employers.
The AAHK will use these funds to subsidize transport costs of local frontline staff responsible for airport operation.
For public transport services workers, Passenger Service Licence holders of public light bus/public bus services who wish to apply for importation of drivers should submit their application to the Transport Department between July 17 and August 7.
The approval process for aviation workers should take one month while those for public light bus drivers could take one to two months.