Skills mismatch needs fixing

Updated: 2015-01-27 09:41

By Staff Writer(HK Edition)

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Tackling the current skills shortage or, to be more precise, the talent mismatch in the Hong Kong economy is something which affects not only the city's competitiveness as an international financial center but also social harmony and stability.

There is an obvious skills shortage across nearly all sectors in the financial services industry. But there are differences in severity, according to a newly released report by the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC), a top advisory body set up by the government.

While the report covers only the financial sector, it offers an insight into similar situations in other sectors. With an overall unemployment rate of 3.4 percent, a rate considered by many economists to be close to full employment, labor shortages and related challenges are not unique to the financial services industry. Indeed, this is an economy-wide problem.

These findings underline the great mismatch in the city between job opportunities and skills. This is a structural problem plaguing Hong Kong by weakening the upward social mobility of young people. It is a widely held notion that a lack of opportunities for upward social mobility is at least partially responsible for rising unrest and activism among young people.

The FSDC report adds credibility to the view that upward social mobility for young people in the city has been curbed by a mismatch in skills rather than by a genuine lack of career opportunities.

Aside from inadequate industry-specific knowledge, the skills mismatch is also due to many young people's deficiencies in areas such as language, presentation and leadership. This has not only been observed by leaders in the financial services sector. But is a common perception expressed by leaders from other sectors.

This highlights the urgent need for Hong Kong to adopt reforms to its education system to make it more responsive to economic development. Strengthening vocational education is probably one of the right steps in this regard.

Aside from implementing necessary reforms in the education system, diversification of economic activities is imperative to enhancing upward social mobility for young people. After all, people have different talents suitable for different kinds of jobs. It is not possible for all young people to land a well-paid job in the financial services sector. Many will find better or more promising futures in other areas.

(HK Edition 01/27/2015 page10)