The scheme is expected to give employers more flexibility
Nearly 50,000 employers have applied to Hong Kong's 2022 Employment Support Scheme on its first day on April 29, according to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong. According to Law, the response to the said scheme was "quite earnest," with individuals "eager" to apply for the initiative.
"I would say that people are eager to apply for it, with close to 50,000 applications from employers just within one day," said the secretary in a press conference.
Hong Kong's 2022 Employment Support plan was launched last week for a two-week period ending on May 12. According to Law, the scheme will provide employers monthly wage subsidy for the months of May, June, and July.
The government is hoping that the new round of plans will give employers more flexibility, as well as better protect the interests of employees.
It aims to achieve the government's goals of supporting enterprises and protecting jobs, according to Law, with the initiative expected to benefit about 1.6 million employees and about 140,000 self-employed individuals.
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Under the new arrangement, there will be no more monthly salary cap for eligible employees, while companies are also allowed to flexibly change the number of employees included for each subsidy month.
As a condition, however, employers need to return subsidy and pay a penalty if they fail to hire enough number of employees during the months that they are receiving the subsidy.
Law said during the press conference last week that after the announcement of the initiative, they have observed "some actions in the market.
"People started to rethink about the continuity of their business and the planning of resuming their business after the relaxation of the social distancing measures," the secretary said. "So, I would say the impact has already been seen in the past couple of weeks."
"We hope that, with this Employment Support Scheme, people will be able to scale up their operations and create more employment for our labour force."
