Forum of December 2023: WC4HK BN(O) survey findings on Employment
In late November, Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers published the most authoritative study to date of BN(O) Hong Kongers in the UK, covering issues including work, the cost of living, integration, belonging, language, location, future plans and the challenges that Hong Kongers are facing in the UK. The report can be accessed here.
With the valuable findings in the latest report, we held a series of monthly online forums around the report. In the December meeting, we talked about the in-depth findings concerning employment and provided an opportunity for the members to discuss the challenges and best practices. In the meeting, Heather Rolfe, Director of Research and Relationships of British Future and Research Lead of the Committee shared the findings. We were also honoured to have Timothy Jeffrey, Partnership & Integration Manager of The Growth Company/ Jobs for Hong Kongers to speak in the forum.
As illustrated in the survey report, one of the biggest challenges for Hong Kongers has been in finding suitable work, as half are working compared to the overall UK rate of 76%. In this forum, Heather further explained that more than half of the Hong Kong arrivals have a degree as their highest qualification and rate their English reading, speaking and writing skills as good. She gave some in-depth findings on employment including the large gender differences in the types of occupations, the key industries and occupations Hong Kongers are contributing to, issues Hong Kongers experienced when looking for work, problems at work and more. While half of the working population said their job doesn’t match their skills and experience at all, or only a little, the survey also shows English skills confidence is the primary motivation for them to take a job below level of skills. In light of the findings, Heather gave recommendations including improving English language provision, increase awareness of potential of BN(O)s to meet skills shortages, support from National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus, help on recognition and transfer of qualifications, coordinated strategy involving key government departments and formulating national and regional strategies.
Our second speaker, Timothy from The Growth Company/Jobs for Hongkongers, introduced their service supporting the BN(O)s on employment. Jobs for Hongkongers is in partnership with various employers and adopts a tracking system to support Hong Kongers along the job searching process. From his observation, Tim shared the key challenges Hong Kongers faced which he found lots of similarities with the survey findings. These challenges include skills mismatches, underemployment, equivalence of qualifications, confidence speaking English, navigating the UK labour market and access to training and support. He said that the support Hong Kongers need in employment is much more than light touching assistance. He also suggested emotional and peer support are equally essential to the Hong Kong arrivals looking for work.
There was a good discussion in the meeting which further highlighted some key challenges the Hong Kongers faced in employment. These include the difficulties in English listening with different accents, and privacy concerns which deter them from using for employment support services. The group also acknowledged that one of the keys is to allow Hong Kongers to better understand what employment opportunities and support they could have in the country. WC4HK is currently working on further employment research. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay tuned.
