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Training wheel
Youth
trainess program prepares students to work on the Mainland
By Sophia Yip
Recently, the Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council and the Labor Department have jointly organized the Youth Mainland Training Program.
This program allows students with Form 5 to university level educations to work as trainees at their choice of 20 Hong Kong manufacturing companies in China.
It offers 50 to 70 trainee positions in administration and research and development, with salary ranges from $4,000 to $6,000.
Even though it costs more to hire trainees from Hong Kong than from the Mainland, Lau Chin Ho, president of the Hong Kong Youth Industrialists Council, said it is worthwhile.
“Hong Kong’s young people are more familiar with the manufacturing industry,” he said.
The program encompasses all manufacturing industries in Hong Kong, such as jewelry, toys and watches, to name a few.
The program lasts for six months.
“Most participating companies started their training period in March,” said Mr. Lau.
As the organizer, the Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council is enthusiastic about helping the local industry develop.
“We are keen to develop Hong Kong industry. Recently more companies have moved to the Mainland.
“The program wishes to teach young people industrial development in Hong Kong. We want to train expertise in this field,” he said.
He regards the program as a training ground to prepare young people for work on the Mainland.
If participants perform well, they may remain in the company after the training period as an employee.
“If young people have good performance, they can directly enter the field after the training,” he said.
Mr. Lau pointed out that the council has chosen experts from all fields of manufacturing in Hong Kong.
All manufacturing companies that joined the program are members of the council.
“Originally the Labor Department allowed less than 20 companies to join.
“But the response was so overwhelming that we had to increase the limit to 20,” he said.
According to Ms. Anita Hui, senior administrative executive of Kingdom Fine Metal Limited, the program helps train suitable talent for her company.
“We have joined similar programs which were organized by The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong before,” she said.
She said Hong Kong’s young people are more innovative and flexible than Mainlanders.
Mr. Lau said, “We need them to work in managerial positions.”
He added that he received calls from non-member companies a few days after the recruitment job fair. They were interested in the program and wanted to know more about it.
According to Mr. Lau, there were roughly 900 attendees at the recruitment job fair, with nearly 600 applicants.
“One of the companies even received 320 applications for one post,” he said.
During the recruitment job fair, a representative for one of the companies noticed that applicants were optimistic about the China market.
“They thought there were more employment opportunities in China,” she said.
After the six-month training period, the council will evaluate the program’s success.
“We sent questionnaires to participants in late February. When we’ve collected the results, we’ll assess the effectiveness of the program.
“Then we’ll send a thorough report to the Labor Department,” Mr. Lau said.
“So far we are satisfied with their performance,” added Ms. Hui.
Lau
Chin Ho says young people can directly enter
fields after training if they perform well. (Sophia Yip)