Hong Kong top talent scheme ‘should have age limits, target sectors lacking skilled labour’ Hong Kong’s top talent scheme currently under review should have its requirements tightened and be more targeted, including imposing age restrictions and zeroing in on industries that lack skilled labour, according to lawmakers. Their suggestions were made after Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki revealed on Monday that the government wanted to broaden the Top Talent Pass Scheme by including universities that have prestige in some subjects but are not in top 100 global rankings. Apart from widening the net, lawmaker Wendy Hong Wen said on Wednesday that the scheme’s criteria could also be tightened in two ways. “First, we need an age restriction,” she said, adding the scheme had so far attracted some people who were near-retirement age, when Hong Kong’s priority should be to bring in younger, high-skilled talent who can contribute in the long-term. She explained that while the number of applicants over the age of 60 was not “extremely high”, an age restriction should be put in place in future for applicants and their dependants. Hong also suggested adopting targeted restrictions based on specific professional fields and industries. She said there was a need to conduct detailed assessments to identify the exact talent needs across different sectors, and then tailor the eligibility criteria to attract talent in those priority areas, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. “In the beginning [when the scheme was first introduced], this approach may not have been suitable as we needed a large volume of new talent, but nowadays this is necessary,” she said, adding that the applications received so far were “rather concentrated” in the field of finance. Hong suggested forming a committee of lawmakers that would invite professional bodies from different industries to report on specific talent shortages. The committee would then gather data that informed further policy decisions. Launched in December 2022, Hong Kong’s Top Talent Pass Scheme requires applicants to have an annual income of at least HK$2.5 million (US$320,700) or hold a bachelor’s degree from a university listed in the top 100 of four designated world rankings over the last five years. Speaking on a trip to Hangzhou on Monday, Chief Secretary Chan said Hong Kong, with its “serious ageing population”, would benefit from attracting more graduates from a greater diversity of schools to enhance the city’s productivity and labour force. Asked about applicants who reported difficulties in finding jobs after their arrival despite being highly qualified, Hong said the phenomenon further explained why authorities needed to perform better in identifying and matching talent with employers. “For example, the Science Park has told me that they constantly have more than a thousand vacancies, so they have to look to the mainland to fill those roles,” she said. “But the mainland candidates may not meet the criteria for the scheme either.” Hong said the government needed to do more to facilitate talent matching by collecting and sharing data, while social organisations could also play a role in helping new arrivals find their footing. According to the Immigration Department, the Top Talent Pass Scheme had received more than 93,000 applications as of July 31, with over 73,000 approved. The department’s data also showed 60,300 of the successful applicants had already arrived in Hong Kong. Hong said that she believed the initial two years of the scheme should be “more open and flexible” to allow for mutual selection between talent and employers. However, moving forward, she expected to see more concrete data on how many people were renewing their visas and actually staying long-term. Lawmaker Jesse Shang, who is also chairman of the Hong Kong Top Talent Services Association, said while the city seemed to have enough home-grown talent to support the finance, real estate and technology sectors, it lacked qualified people in areas such as energy and the automotive business. He said the government should provide guidance to talent under the scheme, especially those in the top tier with incomes more than HK$2.5 million, to start their own businesses in the city and help tackle employment challenges. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3274413/hong-kong-top-talent-scheme-should-have-age-limits-target-sectors-lack-skilled-labour (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post