Over half of top talent pass arrivals have jobs

More than half of the 40,000 people who moved to Hong Kong through the top talent pass scheme have found jobs, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said.

At a job fair specifically organized for pass holders, he said the scheme, launched in December 2022, has seen 55,000 of around 70,000 applications approved and around 40,000 arriving.

"The main priority for these individuals is to find employment or start their own businesses," Sun said

Some also needed to consider their children's education and need to integrate into society. "Finding a job and starting a business are their primary challenges," he said.

A government survey of the first group of top talent pass holders who arrived found 54 percent had already secured jobs.

He also said the upcoming group of pass holders expressed a strong desire to find employment and that the government is committed to providing assistance to them.

Its focus is on connecting top talent pass holders with companies in need of a substantial number of skilled individuals to contribute to the economy.

The fair brought together more than 100 finance and technology firms offering 3,000 vacancies, with salaries ranging from HK$25,000 to HK$100,000.

A long queue was seen outside the venue, but some attendees felt the fair lacked diversity in terms of available occupations.

Ling, who works in health care and came from Guangzhou, said: "The limited number of medical-sector positions may be due to the prevalence of finance, computing and digital-sector jobs."

Gong, an architecture student, attended despite feeling he lacked work experience.

"Many companies are open to considering students, and the salaries being offered are competitive, possibly exceeding HK$25,000," he said.

One of the firms at the fair was Cyberport, whose senior manager of smart living cluster, Ricky Choi Wai-kit, said its interest is in recruiting artificial intelligence specialists.

For Choi, the challenge was in estimating the number of hires needed. The jobs come with benefits such as housing subsidies.

Sun said he would be going to Fujian for three days, during which he planned to meet provincial leaders and officials from departments such as human resources, social security, civil affairs and commerce.

Also, he aimed to engage with enterprises involved in labor service cooperation with Hong Kong, recipients of the Fujian Scheme under the Social Security Allowance Scheme, and Hong Kong entrepreneurs operating in Fujian.