Hong Kong’s Ethnic Minority Communities Need Support to Overcome Language Barrier
Published: 20 May, 2024
Source: SCMP Young Post
News: Hong Kong’s ethnic minority jobseekers tripped up by lack of Cantonese end up doing low-skilled work, survey shows
- Most surveyed say it’s hard to break out of jobs as deliverymen, security guards and construction workers
- Labour Department set up the Racial Diversity Employment Programme in 2020, but not many knew about the service
Jobseekers from Hong Kong’s ethnic minority communities stumble over the language barrier when looking for work, and many end up doing low-skilled, manual work, according to official data and a recent study.
A survey on the employability of people from ethnic minority communities by Lingnan University professor of cultural studies Lisa Leung Yuk-ming showed that most found it hard to break out of working-class jobs such as deliverymen, security guards, and construction workers.
Stereotypes of ethnic minority communities also persisted in the workplace despite Hong Kong’s claim to be inclusive and diverse, she said.
The survey done last year involved about 600 ethnic minority individuals aged mainly between 18 and 44. They were asked about the difficulties they faced in finding jobs and how they sought help from employment support services.
“A lot of the time when they face discrimination, it is due to the language barrier,” Leung said, adding that even qualified individuals with degrees struggled to find a job if they could not speak Cantonese.
According to the 2021 census report, 444,280 employees of ethnic minority backgrounds, including Caucasians, South Asians, and Southeast Asians, worked in Hong Kong.
Almost 72 per cent were in “elementary occupations” such as domestic helpers, cleaners, food preparation assistants, messengers and deliverymen.
Most of this group comprised South and Southeast Asians, including Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers.
Leung said there was an “entrenched impression” that people from ethnic minority communities were only capable of working in certain fields, and that meant fewer opportunities for job interviews in other professions.
“Stereotypes sometimes are hard to explain,” she said.
Although the Labour Department set up the Racial Diversity Employment Programme in 2020 to provide job-matching help through two NGOs, Leung said few knew about the service.
The department said 882 jobseekers had gone through the programme since its launch, half of whom were of Pakistani and Indian descent. As of last December, 518 had found jobs.
Issue: Hong Kong government urged to provide better job support for young people from ethnic minorities
- NGO survey finds 82 per cent of ethnic minority respondents had no internship experience
- Schools should also provide more resources, education to explore career opportunities
Hong Kong should do more to develop job opportunities for young people from ethnic minority backgrounds, an NGO has said, after a survey last month found that more than 80 per cent of respondents were unable to find internships in Hong Kong.
KELY Support Group said last month that schools should provide more career support for young members of ethnic minorities, arguing that companies could benefit from diverse cultural backgrounds and talent.
The group surveyed 509 people aged 16 to 25, of whom about 64 per cent were from non-Chinese Asian minorities.
It found that 82 per cent of respondents had no internship experience, despite about three-quarters considering it the most valuable resource for identifying a career path.
Only 17 per cent of respondents surveyed spoke Cantonese as their first language, compared with 63 per cent who spoke English. An additional 15 per cent spoke Cantonese as a second language.
“It’s important for us … to really understand [that] internships are not just a chance for them to work, but it’s also their first contact with our society in a workplace concept,” said Cindy Ng Tsz-man, the group’s senior manager for programmes and services.
“The government may consider taking the lead and developing more policies to encourage [ethnic minority] employment so that young people from these backgrounds will be able to have equality in the workplace,” she added.
But Ng said that while language barriers were a “big” hurdle they faced, schools had also failed to provide adequate resources and education for them to explore career opportunities.
She said many were unsure where to find a job and lacked mentors to help them navigate career choices. This also created mental health issues such as anxiety and a lack of confidence, she added.
To help alleviate some of the pressure, the group developed the Open Door Work Placement Programme to help connect young people from ethnic minority backgrounds with internship opportunities.
Since last year, the programme has provided 20 people with job placements at 10 small-to-medium-sized enterprises.
Wayne Fong Wai, head of corporate affairs for Prudential Hong Kong, which worked with KELY Support Group to develop its work placement programme, argued that young people from ethnic minority backgrounds were a talent pool companies could tap into.
“They can truly contribute to the economic development of Hong Kong if we give them a chance to shine,” he said.
Original article: Deep Dive: Hong Kong’s ethnic minority communities need support to overcome language barrier
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