Hong Kong authorities have rejected 93 applications to employ non-locals as cooks, waiters, and cleaners since the government tightened a vetting mechanism in June, labour chief Chris Sun has said.

Restaurant workers in Hong Kong. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The applications failed to pass preliminary screening procedures because the employers did not meet a ratio of three full-time local employees for every one imported worker – a new requirement that took effect on June 16 this year, Sun told the legislature on Wednesday.

Sun’s written reply was directed to lawmaker Jonathan Leung, who said that the food and beverage sector “finds it difficult to meet with the new manning ratio requirement.”

The new 3:1 ratio was implemented under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS), an initiative meant to mitigate the city’s manpower crunch in the short term.

Manpower crunch

The scheme was rolled out in September 2023 to address a manpower crunch driven by an ageing population and economic shifts. Workers under the scheme are overwhelmingly from mainland China.

The new ratio targets the F&B sector, which has the highest number of imported workers in the city.

Affected roles include cooks, junior cooks, waiters, receptionists, drink makers, and bar supervisors. Prior to the change, employers only needed to maintain a 2:1 ratio of full-time local employees to imported workers.

Sun cited official figures showing that 1,905 applications were received under the scheme from January to June this year, and another 890 from July to September.

Labour Department. File photo: Candice Chau/HKFP.

Addressing concerns that the government had taken too long to process applications, he said that the Labour Department had completed procedures for 330 applications this September, 289 of which were vetted within four months.

There were 40 applications screened within four to six months, and one was vetted within seven to nine months.

See also: Restaurant barred from hiring non-local workers after providing false info in application

Sun also said that the scheme provides flexibility by allowing the staffing ratio to apply to the total number of employees, instead of the ratio applying for each specific post.

“The Government will continue to closely monitor the economic and labour market situation, the manpower supply and demand of relevant sectors and job categories, the application and vetting of the ESLS, etc, and adjust dynamically the arrangements of labour importation,” he said.