A total of 181,363 non-resident labourers were working in the Special Administrative Region as at the end of April, up slightly by 2.6 per cent compared to the same month of last year, the latest data released by the Human Resources Office shows. During the month, the total number of non-resident workers fell by 73 persons compared to 181,436 in March. Of the total, 21.4 per cent were working in the city’s construction field whilst 19 per cent were serving the local hospitality and F&B businesses. The number of those working in the construction field, amounting to 43,854 as at the end of last month, represented a decline of 9.7 per cent compared to 48,551 workers in the field one year ago. On a month-on-month comparison, however, the number increased by 146 persons from 43,708. According to the Office, some 1,860 construction workers were directly hired by the city’s gaming operators. Meanwhile, the number of those working in the fields of hospitality and F&B rose by 7.2 per cent year-on-year to 47,362 last month compared to 44,187 in the same month of 2015. Nevertheless, compared to 47,441 workers in the field as at March-end, the number of foreign workers in these areas fell slightly by 79 persons. Official data also shows that the number of domestic workers in the city grew by 7.8 per cent year-on-year to 23,683 as at the end of last month, whilst labourers serving the local wholesale & retail business and the real-estate field reached 19,436 and 18,087, respectively. In terms of region, the number of workers from Mainland China accounted for 64 per cent of the total, amounting to 116,707, remaining flat compared to 115,565 one year ago, and 116,356 one month ago. A total of 24,963 and 14,630 non-resident labourers were noted as originating from the Philippines and Vietnam, accounting for 14 per cent and 8 per cent of the total, respectively. In addition, foreign workers from long-haul origins remained flat at 1,175 as at the end of the month. They were primarily from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, according to the data.
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