Hong Kong rules out talent scheme caps despite squeeze on jobs for local graduates

Hong Kong authorities have no plans to adjust talent-hunting schemes or cap the number of non-local graduates permitted to seek employment in the city, the labour minister has said, pointing to a rapidly ageing population and persistent manpower shortages across pillar industries.

But lawmakers representing employees told the minister that local university graduates found it hard to find jobs, particularly those who did not have a background in innovation and technology, and faced keen competition from both locals and non-locals.

Chris Sun Yuk-han, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, told the legislature on Wednesday that the city’s policy on trawling for and retaining talent was driven by the peak in its working population in 2018 and its ageing demographic shrinking the workforce.