LCQ19: Support for construction industry talents

     Following is a question by the Hon Tony Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (September 10):

Question:

     With the endeavours made by me and the industry, the Government launched a subsidy scheme in 2020 (2020 Scheme) as a means of encouraging and supporting private organisations to employ graduates and assistant professionals of the engineering, architectural, surveying, town planning and landscape (EASTL) sectors, so as to enable them to acquire necessary work experience in order to obtain professional qualifications and to alleviate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry. As the impacts of the pandemic on the job market remained, the Development Bureau further launched in 2021 an initiative called Support for Engineering, Architectural, Surveying, Town Planning and Landscape Sectors 2.0 (2021 Scheme) to assist the industry in tiding over the difficult times and reducing its manpower drain. In view of the recent downturn in the construction industry, the Government announced in the Budget of this year that the Construction Industry Council (CIC) would allocate around $150 million to subsidise the construction industry to provide on-the-job training for about 2 500 graduates of the EASTL degree programmes (2025 Scheme) and provide a monthly subsidy of $5,000 to each eligible/approved young talent for a period of 12 months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the following details about the 2020 Scheme and the 2021 Scheme: (i) the number of applications for subsidy places, (ii) the number of approved subsidy places, (iii) the number of employees to whom salary subsidies were actually disbursed, and (iv) the total amount of salary subsidies eventually disbursed, with a breakdown by professional sector;

(2) of the following details about the 2025 Scheme: (i) the number of applications for subsidy places, and (ii) the number of approved subsidy places, with a breakdown by professional sector;

(3) as some members of the industry have expressed that with the severe downturn in the construction industry, it is expected that many companies will be unable to increase their employment of graduates, whether the Government and the CIC will take account of the actual circumstances and, without the need for additional resources, appropriately increase the monthly subsidy amount under the 2025 Scheme, so as to enhance the industry's motivation to employ more graduates; and

(4) as there are views suggesting that the downturn in the construction industry is expected to persist for quite some time, and massive development projects (including the Northern Metropolis) will require a substantial amount of related professional talents in the future, whether the Government will consider the provision of additional subsidies and an extension of the relevant subsidy scheme?

Reply:

President,

     The Development Bureau (DEVB) and the Construction Industry Council (CIC) have been closely monitoring the situation of the construction industry. We have introduced suitable schemes, including the funding schemes mentioned in the subject question launched under the Anti-epidemic Fund during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 (i.e. 2020 Scheme and 2021 Scheme), and the Construction Industry Professional Degree Graduate On-the-Job Training Subsidy Scheme (2025 Scheme) launched through the CIC's allocation of $150 million this year, to support the industry in overcoming prevailing difficulties and to nurture and retain talent for the industry.

     In response to the various parts of the LegCo question, the DEVB's corresponding replies are as follows:

(1) The details of the 2020 Scheme are as follows:
 
Professional discipline Number of applications for subsidy places Number of approved subsidy places

Number of employees to whom salary subsidies were disbursed

 Total subsidy disbursed
Architecture 601 601 601 About $54 million
Engineering 1 487 1 487 1 477 About $126 million
Surveying 755 755 747 About $67 million
Planning 20 20 20 About $2 million
Landscape Architecture 52 52 52 About $5 million
Total 2 915 2 915 2 897 About $254 million

     ​The details of the 2021 Scheme are as follows:
 
Professional discipline Number of applications for subsidy places Number of approved subsidy places Number of employees to whom salary subsidies were disbursed Total subsidy disbursed
Architecture 685 570 563 About $49 million
Engineering 1 012 964 907 About $90 million
Surveying 655 547 537 About $44 million
Planning 26 17 16 About $2 million
Landscape Architecture 40 28 28 About $2 million
Total 2 418 2 126 2 051 About $187 million

(2) The application period for the 2025 Scheme was from March 17 to April 16, 2025. The CIC completed the processing of applications and notified all successful applicants in May 2025. The details of the 2025 Scheme are as follows:
 
Professional discipline Number of applications for subsidy places Number of approved subsidy places
Architecture 706 600
Engineering 5 422 1 300
Surveying 1 188 500
Planning 88 50
Landscape Architecture 100 50
Total 7 504 2 500

(3) As all the 2 500 quotas under the 2025 Scheme have already been allocated, thereby using up all its allocation of $150 million, the CIC is unable to further increase the monthly subsidy amount.

     Furthermore, with the support of the DEVB, the CIC allocated an additional $24 million in March 2025 to subsidise the construction industry to provide on-the-job training for 400 higher diploma graduates in engineering, architecture, surveying, town planning, and landscape architecture. Successful applicants for this funding scheme will receive a monthly subsidy of $5,000 for each approved higher diploma graduate for a period of 12 months, amounting to $60,000 in total. The application period for this scheme was the same as the aforementioned 2025 Scheme. The CIC has already completed the application processing and notified all successful applicants in May 2025.

     For the above two schemes, the CIC has allocated a total of $174 million to subsidise the construction industry to provide on-the-job training for a total of 2 900 graduates.

(4) The construction industry generally welcomed and supported the above two subsidy schemes launched in 2025, acknowledging that they are helpful to the current situation of the industry. The DEVB, in collaboration with the CIC, will continue to maintain close communication with the industry, to keep in view the implementation of the schemes, the overall situation of the industry, the needs of different stakeholders and the CIC's budget for the coming years, and to consider the future arrangement for the schemes.
 
Ends/Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:15
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