In tandem with population ageing, the labour force in Hong Kong has been projected to trend downwards in the long term. Subsequent to the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic and the intense global competition for talents, the local labour force experienced an even sharper decline than previously projected. The implementation of various epidemic-related travel and quarantine restrictions since 2020 have impeded the inflow of talents and professionals to Hong Kong for business, work or settlement. In the past two years, the local labour force recorded a significant drop of about 140 000 persons. Amongst those who have left the local workforce, the majority were of the prime working age (i.e. aged 25 to 59) and over 60% were higher-skilled workers with managerial and professional experience. 

Manpower is a critical impetus for growth. Hong Kong’s future success and prosperity hinge on whether we can maintain an abundant supply of quality talents to meet market demands. While the Government spares no effort in nurturing local talents, it will take time for such measures to bear fruit. Talent admission is a fast and effective means to alleviate our imminent and acute manpower shortage. To this end, the Chief Executive announced a package of initiatives to trawl for talents in a bolder, more targeted and proactive manner in the 2022 Policy Address. New initiatives were officially launched in late December 2022. 

In this webinar, the speaker will cover prevailing demographic challenges in Hong Kong and the considerations involved in the formulation of the enhanced talent attraction regime, details of the initiatives involved (e.g. introduction of a new Top Talent Pass Scheme and enhancement to existing admission schemes including the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, etc.) and the Key Performance Indicators for talent attraction.