(16 December 2016, Hong Kong) The Construction Industry Council (CIC) today released the latest ‘Construction Expenditure Forecast’ and ‘Forecast of Manpower Situation of Skilled Construction Workers’. It forecasts that the future construction expenditure will remain high, and the industry will still be facing a shortage of skilled workers.
The CIC forecasts that in the coming five years, the overall construction expenditure in Hong Kong will be around HK$240 to HK$300 billion per annum. There will be a shortage of about 10,000 to 15,000 skilled workers in the construction industry. The manpower forecast has taken into account the total construction expenditure forecast in the public and private sectors, the number of in-service workers and their age distribution, training and other relevant factors.
A spokesperson for the CIC said, “In collaboration with the industry, the CIC adopts a multi-pronged approach to cope with the shortage of skilled workers. The CIC is actively engaging in discussions with industry stakeholders to enhance the ‘First-hire-then-train’ scheme which is in collaboration with contractors. The CIC will strengthen the training for relevant trades with labour shortage, and provide various skill enhancement courses for concretors, metal scaffolders and plasterers etc to upgrade the skill level of in-service general workers to the level of semi-skilled workers. The CIC will also organise regular skill enhancement courses for ethnic minorities.”
The Spokesperson added, since 2013, the CIC has regularly conducted the ‘Construction Expenditure Forecast’ and ‘Forecast of Manpower Situation of Skilled Construction Workers’ to provide reference to industry stakeholders. The CIC will review the training measures taking into account the data of the manpower forecast for skilled workers.
Registration Ordinance is forecasted to take effect from 1 April 2017. This initiative aims to enhance the professionalism of the industry and helps promote the prosperous development of the industry.