'Aviation sector needs more technicians'

The transport sector on Thursday urged authorities to finalise details of a plan to bring in outside workers, especially for the aviation industry, as soon as possible. Officials have revealed plans to bring in 10,000 skilled technicians over the next three years, but have not specified which job categories or professions will be included. It comes after Chief Executive John Lee in his Policy Address projected Hong Kong will have a shortage of about 60,000 skilled technicians across different sectors. Vivien Lau, the chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre said her industry is expecting more than 6,000 vacancies in the next five years. Lau said the need for mechanics and technicians will increase with the three-runway system set to open later this month. "What we are tackling now is the technical side, the technician and mechanics. Because even though these categories were covered in the previous [labour importation] scheme, but we still think that there's a challenge in recruiting those technical staff because of their qualification, the level of experience that we are requiring, and also sometimes the language is also our key consideration," she said. Transport sector lawmaker Frankie Yick for his part said the government should place more focus on bringing in workers from Southeast Asia. “Particularly for the aviation industry, if they need to communicate with the pilot, with other people in the airport, and they normally speak in English. So [recruiting workers] from countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, I think that will be helpful,” he said.