HK, Macao talent attracted to work, live in Guangdong
The Zengcheng District Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, has taken the lead in the province in providing living allowances to young Hong Kong and Macao professionals who are employed in the district.
The bureau released a statement saying it recently approved such allowances, valued at 10,000 yuan ($1,540), to four young people from Hong Kong who work in the district. The measure will help young people from the two special administrative regions better integrate into Guangzhou and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The bureau is soliciting public opinion on the decision, and the allowance will be delivered to the four Hong Kong young people in mid-July, if everything goes smoothly, according to the statement.
In addition to the living allowance, the Guangzhou Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security said it is introducing preferential policies and regulations to attract more Hong Kong and Macao young people to work in Guangzhou and help them find their way in the city in the coming months.
Guangzhou welcomes more young people from Hong Kong and Macao to contribute to its economic development, the bureau said in a statement.
The Guangzhou bureau promises to further simplify procedures for these people to start businesses and apply for jobs in the months to come to promote coordinated and integrated development in the Greater Bay Area, which includes nine Guangdong cities as well as Hong Kong and Macao.
At the provincial level, Guangdong is offering more than 9,000 jobs to graduates from Hong Kong and Macao and encouraging them to register for examinations this year in an effort to speed up the integration of Greater Bay Area cities.
The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Guangdong Provincial Committee and the Guangdong Department of Human Resources and Social Security jointly announced in a statement on Thursday that university and college graduates from the two SARs can apply online for jobs from July 19 to 21. Qualified candidates will be required to take their examinations on Aug 22.
Graduates from Hong Kong and Macao will get the same treatment and benefits as local residents after recruitment, the statement said.
To attract young Hong Kong and Macao graduates, Guangdong is planning to offer young employees from Hong Kong and Macao a monthly living allowance of no more than 1,000 yuan for up to 18 months, it said.
Li Yiwen, who works at Huashang Education Group, said that she was glad to receive the living allowance and that it reflects the local government’s care for Hong Kong and Macao young people working in Zengcheng. Li is from Hong Kong.
“The allowance boosts my income and allows me to have more opportunities to experience the culture of the Greater Bay Area,” she said.
Li said she thinks that working in Guangzhou would yield even greater prospects, particularly in the internet industry and entrepreneurship.
And working and living in Guangzhou is more convenient, she said.
“In Hong Kong, employers rarely provide accommodations for their employees, and the monthly cost of accommodations is at least 6,000 yuan. Plus, workers usually have to spend a long time on their daily commute,” she said.
“My company provides my accommodations, which cost me only 100 yuan a month, and it takes me only five minutes to walk to work, saving me lots of time,” Li said.
Another Hong Kong resident surnamed Chen said she, too, was happy to receive the living allowance.
“The good working and living climates in Guangzhou will help attract more young people from Hong Kong to start business and work in the Greater Bay Area cities,” she said.