The Labour Department (LD), together with the Human Resources and Social Security Department of Guangdong Province and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province, held the Welcoming Ceremony for Young People employed under the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme at the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubation Base in Guangzhou today (September 13). The welcoming ceremony witnessed young people of Hong Kong starting their careers in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. (GBA)
The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, in his speech said that the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last year pointed out, "A nation will prosper only when its young people thrive. China's young people of today are living in a remarkable time. They have an incomparably broad stage on which to display their full talents, and they have incomparably bright prospects of realising their dreams." He pointed out that as demonstration of the country's high-quality development, the GBA provides one of the important stages in cultivating young talent. The Hong Kong Government is committed to motivating Hong Kong young people to participate in the development of the GBA, contributing their best to serve the need of the region.
During the ceremony, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, reviewed the achievements of the pilot Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme in 2021. The feedback from both the participating enterprises and young people regarding the scheme was favourable. The Government regularised the scheme on March 1 this year and launched a number of enhancement measures including commissioning service providers to strengthen support tailor-made for employed young people on the Mainland to help them adapt to the work environment.
As of last week, the LD has received more than 2 000 job vacancies from 220 enterprises. To enable more enterprises and young people to participate in the scheme, the Government announced on September 6 that the application period for this year's scheme will be extended to December 31, allowing more enterprises with operations both in Hong Kong and the Mainland cities in the GBA to participate. Participating enterprises shall employ eligible young people in accordance with Hong Kong laws, offer them a monthly salary of not less than HK$18,000 and station them in the GBA's Mainland cities to work and receive on-the-job training. The Government will grant a monthly allowance of HK$10,000 for up to 18 months to enterprises for each young person they employ. Enterprises can submit job vacancies through the scheme's website (www.jobs.gov.hk/gbayes).
Young people participating in the scheme should be Hong Kong residents who are lawfully employable in Hong Kong and awarded bachelor's degrees or above from 2021 to 2023. Job vacancies under the scheme, upon the LD's vetting, have been uploaded to the scheme's website for Hong Kong young people to apply for. For details of the scheme, please visit the scheme's website or call the hotline 2969 0446/2969 0460.
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