Road to 5**：Employment stability
【明報專訊】According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), employment stability (就業穩定) refers to feeling suitable for a job, having an opportunity to pursue a career, and being able to control the work to a certain extent.
Job stability in China
In a regular meeting of the State Council in 2019, Chinese premier Li Keqiang (李克強) said that as domestic and external risks were rising, the task of stabilizing the employment market was becoming increasingly difficult. He said that local governments had to introduce more measures to support the creation of jobs. During the meeting it was also mentioned that the employment situation of the year 2019 remained stable, and policies that promoted employment had to be prioritized. After the outbreak of the Sino-US trade war, the central government proposed six objectives, namely ''stabilizing the employment market, stabilizing the financial markets, stabilizing trade, stabilizing foreign capital, stabilizing investment and stabilizing expectations''.
Official statistics shows that the unemployment rate of urban areas across the country was 5.1 percent in November 2019. In the first eleven months of the year 2019, 12.79 million people in urban areas found employment, exceeding the target of 11 million people being in employment for the year.
Hong Kong unemployment rate at 3.4%
The anti-amendment movement, which has gone on for over half a year, and the Sino-US trade war have impacted the Hong Kong economy. Retail and tourism-related industries have been badly affected. Government statistics show that Hong Kong's unemployment was 3.4 percent between November 2019 and January 2020 after seasonal adjustment. That was the highest level in three years. In the construction industry, the unemployment rate was 5.7 percentage, a six-year high.
Encouraging elderly employment
In many countries elderly employment is encouraged. Japan is faced with a ''silver tsunami''. The government intends to amend the law to postpone the retirement age gradually to 65 years of age by 2025. The Singaporean government is providing incentives for employers to encourage them to hire elderly people. Corporations that hire people who are 65 or above can receive a subsidy amounting to 11 percent of that employee's salary.
Translated by Terence Yip
[通通識 第631期]
