Road to 5**：The Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme

[2021.04.26] 發表

【明報專訊】The Hong Kong government launched the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme (''The Scheme''), inviting companies to provide jobs in the Greater Bay Area for students graduating between 2019 and 2021. Companies must ensure their employees earn no less than HK$18,000 per month, and the government will provide a monthly allowance of HK$10,000 for each candidate for a maximum of 18 months.

◆News summary

The Scheme plans to provide 2,000 positions, including about 700 from innovation and technology enterprises. According to the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, its member companies will provide about 300 jobs, believing that this is a win-win situation for both the companies and the graduates. However, the representative of the Hong Kong-Guang Dong Youth Exchange Platform is worried that when companies provide idle positions to display their involvement, Hong Kong youth cannot effectively demonstrate their talents.

According to an HSBC spokesperson, HSBC plans to provide about 100 positions, which are stationed in different business and operational departments. Sun Hung Kai Properties expressed support and participation in the plan, also mentioning the group's development of multiple large-scale comprehensive real estate projects in key cities such as Guangzhou and Zhongshan. As stated by Cindy Chow, the Executive Director of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, the fund has mostly invested in innovative technology companies, and they will encourage companies in the portfolio to support and participate in The Scheme.

Source: 9 January 2021, Ming Pao

■Mock examination question

''Encouraging Hong Kong youth to establish their career in the Greater Bay Area is generally beneficial to Hong Kong's social development.'' Do you agree with this statement?

Agree:

． Increased development opportunities for youth

Considering potential career paths for Hong Kong youth, the Greater Bay Area can provide more development opportunities and diversified outlets. In recent years, Hong Kong's financial and professional service industries have gradually saturated, and many young people have difficulty in fully exerting their talents. The Greater Bay Area provides more opportunities for employment and promotion, which allows Hong Kong youth to demonstrate their creative potential more in the Mainland.

． Costs for starting a business are lower

From an economic perspective, land and labour costs in the Mainland are relatively low compared to Hong Kong. The cost of starting a business in the Greater Bay Area is much lower than that of Hong Kong. Compared to starting a business in Hong Kong, working in the Greater Bay Area is more likely to be profitable for Hong Kong's economy.

Disagree:

． Brain drain in Hong Kong

Encouraging Hong Kong youth to pursue their careers in the Greater Bay Area may result in brain drain from Hong Kong in the long run. This will do more harm than good to Hong Kong's general social development. Hong Kong youth may choose to stay in the Mainland for long-term career development, which, due to the brain drain, may ultimately weaken Hong Kong's competitiveness.

． Restrict development of other industries

Considering Hong Kong's industrial development, encouraging Hong Kong youth to pursue their careers in the Greater Bay Area will be harmful to the transformation of Hong Kong's industrial structure in the long run. This will do more harm than good to Hong Kong's general social development. Hong Kong is currently facing problems regarding industrial homogeneity. The development of the Greater Bay Area emphasizes the construction of complementary advantages between cities, while Hong Kong's main advantage still lies in traditional industries such as financial services. Innovation and technology production is the strength of some cities in the Greater Bay Area, which encourages youth to pursue jobs in the area. This may lead to the outflow of talent and capital from Hong Kong, which is detrimental to the development of local innovation and technology industries.

Translated by Odyssey Lang

[通通識第710期]