36% of young Hongkongers not working or studying have no interest in finding jobs: poll

Employees Retraining Board conducts survey to address training needs for local labour force amid manpower shortage

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An expert has warned that a person’s ability to work negatively correlated with the amount of time they spent away from employment. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:10pm, 10 Jul 2024Updated: 11:16pm, 14 Jul 2024

More than a third of young Hongkongers not working or studying have no intention of finding a job, a survey on training needs for the labour force has found, as the city continues to battle a manpower shortage across a range of industries.

The results came from an Employees Retraining Board survey covering 1,261 respondents, including homemakers and recent retirees, interviewed between last November and March of this year.

The independent statutory body wrote in a paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday that about half of all interviewees had expressed little interest in working.

“Homemakers aged 30 to 49 were inclined to enter into employment, but most of them are only looking for part-time jobs,” the board wrote.

“People who have recently retired were less inclined to work, while young people who are neither in employment nor in education were the least motivated.”

The study found that 36.1 per cent of 47 people aged between 15 and 29 who were not employed or studying had no plans to find jobs or pursue further training in the coming year, with the prospect of good salary and benefits, work-from-home arrangements and flexible working hours only incentivising some to consider taking up work.