Hong Kong Industrialist Jan-Mar 2021

The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne previously published the “IMD World Talent Ranking 2020”, capturing the performances of selected economies in the investment and development, appeal and readiness of talents. Amongst Asian economies, Singapore and Taiwan showed rather different performance from Hong Kong in the “Readiness” of talents despite our similar economic composition. The proportion of science and engineering related graduates in universities in all three places account for 30-40% of the total number of graduates, where Hong Kong ranked 2 nd in the world, Singapore at 4 th , and Taiwan at 5 th . Nevertheless, in the criteria of “University education meets the needs of a competitive economy”, only Singapore received a top-notch ranking of world 3 rd , while Hong Kong was ranked far behind at 15 th and Taiwan at 27 th . This ranking reflects that unlike Singapore, there has been an emerging mismatch between university education and actual employment demand in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The threat of talent mismatch poses even more severe impact on the ongoing development of the manufacturing industry than other economic activities. Some scholars pointed out that the relocation of factories in the past few decades has narrowed the prospects of the manufacturing industry, leading to a reduction in job opportunities in manufacturing and hence, the loss of science and engineering graduates into other business fields. The resulting shortage of skilled labour has made industrial transformation even more challenging for local enterprises. On the other hand, chiefs of advanced manufacturing companies are concerned about the high turnover rate of experienced technicians, who are highly sought-after by economies worldwide with exclusive immigration benefit offered to overseas talents. They also found that graduates from local tertiary institutions can hardly meet employers' expectations in terms of actual manufacturing operations. Both scholars and business sectors urge for a long- term strategy by our Government, working hand- in-hand with the industry and tertiary institutions, 早前，洛桑國際管理發展學院發表了《2020 年IMD世界人才競爭力報告》(IMD World Talent Ranking 2020)，分析了各地在人才培 育、吸引力和人才準備度方面的表現。在鄰近 亞洲地區中，新加坡和台灣與香港的經濟格局 較為相似，但在此報告當中的「人才準備度」排 名卻頗有不同。三地的理工科畢業生，均佔當 地大學畢業生比率約三至四成，在63個地區香 港在全球排名第2、新加坡排名第4、台灣排名 第5。然而，在大學教育能否為具競爭力的經濟 活動提供人才上，新加坡排名第3，香港則被 遠遠拋離排名15，台灣更排至27。 此項排名反映相比起新加坡，香港及台灣的 大學教育與實際就業巿場需求之間，已出現一 定程度的人才錯配情況。在工業活動上，此人 才斷層可能比一般經濟活動更為嚴峻。有學者 認為在過去十多年，香港及台灣的廠房外移， 行業前景規模收窄，導致製造業就業機會減 少，不少理工科畢業生已轉往其他行業，故當 近年更多企業希望進一步推動工業時，則面對 人才缺乏、青黃不接等難題。另一方面，有高 端產業的老闆認為，不少經濟體都對高端技術 人員求才若渴，更設有不少積極吸引人才的政 策，令此類人員流失率高；現時香港大專院校 培訓的畢業生，在功能上亦難以應對製造業界 的運作需要。兩者都期望政府制訂長遠的工業 人才政策，統籌官、產、學各界，協力紓解現 時推展「再工業化」所面對的人才瓶頸。    事實上，去年底行政長官林鄭月娥發表的 《施政報告》中，亦提出不少有利人才發展的政 策，例如港深政府共同建設位於兩地邊界的深 港科技創新合作區，讓位於深圳園區和落馬洲 河套香港園區的企業能緊密合作，實現「一區 兩園」。在河套港深科技園區落成前，鼓勵港 商先前往大灣區落戶，推動港深兩地的創科產 業生態鏈，早着先機開拓業務，更為香港青年 人創造更多和多元化的就業機會。同時，政府 推出「大灣區青年就業計劃」，鼓勵在港及大灣 區均有業務的企業，聘請香港畢業生到大灣區 工作和發展事業，政府將資助2,000個職位， 當中約700個為創科職位，企業將安排僱員在 兩地工作，由政府補貼部份月薪，讓香港青年 人汲取科研產業工作經驗，擴闊視野，為事業 發展奠下根基。工總預計會員公司將可提供約 100個來自不同工業界別的創科職位。 對此，無論港商還是學者都表示歡迎，並期 望政府能為香港未來高端產業的人才需求訂立 完整政策藍圖，從基礎教育、課程設計、就業 階梯、人才輸入，以至長遠專業發展等，統籌 相關配套支援，持續為產業供應所需人才，從 根本上解決人才缺乏的問題，成為香港高端產 業長遠持續發展的原動力。  to synergise efforts in nurturing industrial talents to overcome the bottleneck of talent shortage in progressing “re-industrialisation”. The Policy Address announced by the Chief Executive Carrie Lam at the end of last year also outlined facilitative measures for talent development. For instance, the Hong Kong and Shenzhen administrations will cooperate in developing an innovation and technology hub at the border, allowing companies in Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Zone and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park (HSITP) at the Lok Ma Chau Loop to work more closely and achieve the “one zone, two parks” vision. Before the completion of HSITP, Hong Kong companies are encouraged to establish a presence at the Greater Bay Area to seize business opportunities and create quality jobs for young professionals in Hong Kong. Concurrently, the Government rolled out the “Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme” to support enterprises with operations in both Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area to recruit and deploy local graduates to work in the Mainland. Under this Scheme, the Government will subsidise part of the remuneration of 2,000 jobs, of which 700 of them are innovation and technology posts, where Hong Kong employers shall assign the employees to work in both Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area to accumulate first- hand work experience in the I&T sector and broaden horizons for further career development. FHKI anticipates that its member companies will provide about 100 innovation and technology job postings from various industry sectors. Both Hong Kong companies and academics welcome the Scheme and express the wish for the Government to develop a strategic blueprint to meet the talent demand of advanced industries in the future. From basic education, curriculum design, career development, talent import to continuous professional development, it is essential for Hong Kong to tackle the root causes and have a co- ordinated master plan to nurture the needed talents that will fuel the longer-term development of advanced industries in Hong Kong. Talent Ranking in Asia 亞洲地區人才排名 Graduates in Sciences 理科畢業生 （ % of graduates in ICT, Engineering, Math & Natural Sciences 電腦，工程，數學和自然科學專業  畢業生的百分比） University education 大學教育 （ meets the needs of a competitive economy 滿足競爭經濟的需求） Value 百分比  2019 Rank 2019排名 Value(0-10) 分數 0-10 2019 Rank 2019排名 Singapore 新加坡 33.48 %  4 8.82  3 Hong Kong 香港 40.59 % 2 7.70 15 Taiwan 台灣 32.85 % 5 6.89 27 Korea 韓國 29.35 % 10 5.30 48 * IMD World Talent Ranking 2020 洛桑國際管理發展學院《2020年IMD世界人才競爭力報告》   Factor Ranking 分項排名 Overall Ranking 總排名 Investment & Development 投資與發展人才 Appeal  吸引與留住人才 Readiness 人才準備度 Singapore 新加坡 9 21 22 1 Hong Kong 香港 14 23 18 2 Taiwan 台灣 20 25 26 15 Korea 韓國 31 28 36 29 * IMD World Talent Ranking 2020 洛桑國際管理發展學院《2020年IMD世界人才競爭力報告》   Singapore received the highest ranking in the overall talent competitiveness in major Asian economies, while Hong Kong performed best in terms of appeal to talents. Hong Kong must fill the gaps in our talent development system to build solid foundation for future economic development.   整體而言，新加坡的整體人才競爭力表現在亞洲主要經濟體中較為優勝，香港在對人才的吸引力則表現略佳。香港必須對症下藥， 為長遠的經濟發展建立穩固的人才基礎。 1-3/2021 | 17