Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
(2) as employers applying for importation of workers under the ESLS are required to undertake local public recruitment exercises and the Labour Department will identify local job-seekers for referrals to these employers for interviews, of the respective numbers of local job-seekers referred by the authorities in respect of the applications concerning the catering and hotel-related industries in each year since the implementation of the ESLS, and among them, the number of job-seekers who have successfully secured employment, and their respective percentages, with a breakdown by job category (e.g. waiters/waitresses, junior cooks and cooks);
(3) as it is required under the ESLS that imported labour are only allowed to work in the positions and perform job duties as specified in a Standard Employment Contract, there are views relaying that some employers in the catering industry have failed to fulfil such requirement by hiring junior imported labour (e.g. junior cooks) at lower wages and requiring them to take up positions at higher levels (e.g. No. 1 Cooks) and perform advanced duties beyond their designated scope of duties, thus affecting employment opportunities for local workers, of the targeted measures put in place by the authorities to combat such non-compliant acts;
The reply to the Member’s question is as follows:
(2) As at September 2025, the LD made 1 257 and 441 job referrals under the ESLS for the food and beverage services industry, and the accommodation services industry respectively during the local recruitment exercises conducted by employers.107 and 33 job seekers respectively received employment offers from the employers. A breakdown of the number of job referrals by job title is at Annex 3.
The LD has launched investigation into all complaints received, including conducting inspections and gathering evidence at workplaces of imported workers, meeting with employers and employees individually and verifying relevant employment records. As the staff responsible for investigating complaints also undertake other duties, the manpower involved in investigation work cannot be separately identified.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau has just commenced the mid-term update of the Manpower Projection and will accord priority to data analysis for industries with a higher proportion of imported labour, with a view to providing the relevant part of analytical results in advance for reference in reviewing the ESLS and supporting the Government’s medium- to long-term planning.