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The construction industry in developed economies is suffering from a shortage of workers, triggering project cost escalations and project delays and suppressing the whole economy. This paper aims to explore the perceptions of the general public and construction workers towards workforce shortages in the Hong Kong construction industry and identifies the critical factors affecting their intention to join the industry. The triangulation approach was adopted in this study and a street survey was conducted in grass-roots areas in Hong Kong. The questionnaire was formatted using a five-point Likert scale and semi-structured interviews with ten experienced workers were used to validate and interpret the results from the street survey results. The triangulation approach found that 'harsh working conditions', 'job instability' and 'lack of career prospects' are the primary barriers dissuading the public to join the construction industry. This paper provides insights into the critical factors affecting the construction workforce supply and identifies possible solutions for maintaining a sufficient workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Hong Kong population census and by-census data from 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011, this study examined the trends and determinants of women's labor force participation (WLFP) in Hong Kong. It looked at the determinants of WLFP from the perspectives of availability, marketability, market demand, and new household economic theory. The results showed that the labor force participation for married women has been rising over the study period, but their availability to the labor market is still constrained by childrearing responsibilities. This is in spite of the fact that their education levels and the existence of domestic help are factors that ostensibly make it more possible for women to stay in the labor force. It also showed that other family members’ income (e.g., the husband's income) is an important factor for women's participation in the labor force, supporting the idea that the decision to stay in the labor force vs. to stay at home is a joint decision of the family. The study also implies that economic restructuring and the fluctuations in immigrant composition influence WLFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how individuals use their labour supply-hours of work and participation decisions-as a margin of adjustment or 'buffer' in response to financial shocks. The financial shock measure is constructed using individuals' expected change to their financial situation in the year ahead relative to the perceived outcome one year later. Using BHPS data, we find that both men and women adjust their labour supply in response to financial shocks. The propensity to participate in the labour market also appears to respond to the experience of a financial shock, but is less robust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes labor welfare in the specific political, economic, social, and cultural context of Hong Kong, a metropolitan city in transition. The first author is the founder of the first nongovernmental organization (NGO)-based employee assistance program in Hong Kong, and the second is an active organizer of campaigns for advocating labor rights. Based on their experiences, the labor welfare programs offered by several of the largest trade unions and business firms in the city are examined, and their defining characteristics identified. The article concludes with recommendations for future development in service delivery and policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the labor subcontracting strategy used in Hong Kong, China. Advantages and disadvantages.

This paper outlines the labour-market shifts and adjustments which Hong Kong experienced on the eve of its reversion to China in July 1997. It argues that these adjustments, varying from acute problems of labour shortage in the late 1980s to new perils of unemployment menacing the local work-force in the mid-1990s, can be traced to the core imperative of the ‘China’ factor. This paper notes, in addition, that the fluidity of the pre-1997 labour market was compounded by the trendy moves of corporate businesses to downsize and rationalize their human resource provisions so as to strengthen their competitiveness, as well as popular actions adopted by a politically emasculated administration to democratize the government and the legislature. As a result, hastily introduced electoral reforms have politicized the fragmented labour movement in Hong Kong, because of rival attempts by the pluralist and competitive trade union centres to appeal to the support of the grassroots voters among the labouring mass. The pre-1997 syndrome of polarized political tussle between organized labour and management poses a formidable and impelling agenda for the new Government. This may include, inter alia, the tasks of rebuilding a more proficient human infrastructure to support the restructuring economy and alleviating labour-capital tension with an enhanced tripartite Labour Advisory Board - backed, possibly, by organized labour's prudent search for a more accommodative approach characteristic of Asian trade unionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the acute problems faced by the market economy of Hong Kong are assessed. These are seen to arise from the shift in the labour market from labour surplus to labour scarcity. The major geo-political role of Hong Kong both in servicing the external capital requirements of South China and as a key state within the conurbation of 'little dragons' is also examined. The consequences of this structural shift in terms of the challenges being mounted to HRM both strategically and functionally are also evaluated and are interpreted as an evolutionary process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the benefits of the growing pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in Hong Kong, China for Chinese scientists. These developments in the industry increase the return of Chinese scientists who are training abroad, such as the U.S. According to Scott Wadsworth, researcher at Johnson & Johnson Research & Development, their knowledge in the language and culture allows them to obtain higher positions. The main factor driving growth in biotechnology-based industry is the demand for low-cost labor.