To placate fears of a possible flood of professionals from mainland
China after the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme comes
into effect on 1 June, the Hong Kong government is to review the
scheme.
The move follows complaints from the IT sector that the system
could be open to abuse by employers.
The admissions scheme, which offers longer visa permits for
mainland professionals brought to Hong Kong to fill jobs in the IT
and financial services sectors, states that entrants must possess
skills and knowledge not available or in shortage in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) of China, with
its own immigration controls.
Yet despite this stipulation, concerns have arisen that local jobs
could be under threat, according to Sin Chung-kai, legislative
councillor for the IT functional constituency.
To alleviate these concerns, the government's Security Bureau,
which includes the Immigration Department, will now implement the
"Trigger Point Review Mechanism", Sin said. This review will be
triggered when either sector reaches a total 2,000 of mainland
professionals entering the SAR under the scheme, or after 12
months, whichever comes first.
"The Trigger Point Review is a response by the government to
critical comments from the general public. There are advocates of a
quota for the admission of mainland professionals. But the
government remains firm on its original proposal of not having a
maximum limit," said Sin, who added that he supports the proposed
review of the scheme.
Other concerns centered around potential opportunities for local
employers to misuse the system have been raised in recent months by
members of the local government's Legislative Council and other
stakeholders.
"Some have been worried that the system can be abused. By abused I
mean local employers could bring in people that they say have
strong IT skills and then use them for lower skilled jobs or as
cheap labour," Sin said.
Daniel Lai, president of the Hong Kong Computer Society, echoed
concerns about the potential for abuse, but added that the scheme
will at least remove discrimination barriers against mainland
Chinese seeking employment.