The Hong Kong Government provides part-time jobs for vaccination in the tourism industry and will provide 2,000 short-term jobs
[Global Times reporter Ye Lan] Facing the plight of unemployment and underemployment of tourism industry personnel, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced on the 29th that it will provide them with 2,000 short-term positions in vaccination centers.
On the 29th, the Secretary for Civil Service Nie Dequan met with a number of chambers of commerce and associations in the tourism industry to discuss the issue of providing short-term positions for practitioners in the tourism industry by the vaccination center.
He said that employees in the tourism industry are facing layoffs and underemployment, which have seriously affected their livelihoods. Therefore, when the tourism industry took the initiative to make recommendations to the government, he immediately contacted and discussed with the industry, hoping to help the people concerned as soon as possible to alleviate their urgent needs.
According to a report by Toutiao Daily on the 29th, starting from May 1, the "Job Creation Program" under the Special Administrative Region Government's "Epidemic Prevention and Anti-epidemic Fund" will provide short-term positions for tourism practitioners in communities set up outside of 24 private hospitals. The Vaccination Center is responsible for the operation of the management center and administrative support.
Eighteen organizations including the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council, the Hong Kong Hotel Owners Association and the Hong Kong Hotel Industry Association will set up an administrative support company to be responsible for recruitment, which is expected to provide approximately 1,400 to 2,000 job opportunities.
Eligible applicants include tour guides, tour leaders, travel agency staff, hotel employees, and tour bus drivers.
The hired person will formally work on May 1, for a period of about 5 months, with a monthly salary ranging from HK$10,000 to HK$40,000, depending on the full-time or part-time job and the position held.
The entire planned budget expenditure is 150 million Hong Kong dollars.
Nie Dequan said that the work of tourism practitioners includes registration, explanation, and flow management. They often need to deal with emergencies. These experience and skills are similar to the management and administrative support required by the vaccination center. It is expected that they only need to receive short-term training. If you are familiar with the environment, you can start to work. Vaccination and medical-related work will continue to be undertaken by professional medical personnel.
It is understood that the current SAR government deploys personnel from various departments to the community vaccination center for management and administration. The short-term personnel provided by the tourism industry will make the deployment of personnel more flexible. Civil servants who have been deployed earlier will be transferred back to their original jobs. .
Data from the Statistics Department of the Special Administrative Region Government shows that in 2019, Hong Kong engaged in inbound tourism (including retail, accommodation services, and transit passenger services, etc.) in total 197,900; engaged in outbound tourism (including travel agency, booking services, and transit passenger services, etc.) There are a total of 33,200 people. Hu Zhaoying, honorary adviser to the Tourism Industry Council, praised the SAR government's plan as "so positive and there is a good chance of implementation." Yao Sirong, a member of the Legislative Council of the tourism industry, said that industry personnel have experience in handling customer order, complaints or disputes, and are able to cope with the operation of the vaccination center. At the same time, it can also solve the unemployment and suspension of pay for many people.