Employment Services

Since its establishment in 2003, the Youth Employment Network (YEN) has acted as a bridge for youth to smoothen the transition from school to work by improving their employability skills, while at the same time, exploring work opportunities and encouraging the business sector to employ young people.

Over the past year, the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since 2004. As young people encountered huge difficulties in seeking jobs, YEN provided them with diversified support, together with the effort from government departments, the private sector and other NGOs, including up-skills training, pre-employment preparation and job creation.

Support Services During the Pandemic

YEN launched and implemented several employment support services:

Telecommunications Opportunities Programme (TOP), commissioned by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and administered by the Federation, under the HKSAR Government’s Anti-Epidemic Fund, helped create 12-month full-time jobs in the telecommunications sector. TOP equipped young people to be more competitive, as well as enhanced their employability for the industry. TOP was supported by 15 telecommunications companies, providing more than 150 job openings. Over 800 young people registered.

In collaboration with Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS), the Community Health Ambassador Programme recruited over 100 unemployed young people. They were given instruction in digital technology and health to serve the elderly living in units provided by HKHS. In the past year, more than 700 service hours were provided to 500 elderly.

Career Transit , a joint programme by YEN, SVhk and Linkedln, was in response to more than 100 layoffs in the aviation industry. The programme helped those who had lost their jobs seek other employment through webinars, individual consultations, information, CV enrichment and interview skills workshops.

Hope for Success Ready Get Set Go , sponsored by Prudential Hong Kong Ltd., offered an online youth career expo, webinars and interview outfit allowances for grassroots youths. A total of 500 people attended the video workshops.

Employability Enhancement

As one of the training bodies of the Labour Department Youth Employment Training Programme , YEN provided career counselling services and employment support to 180 unemployed young people.

Project MAGIC , sponsored by the Simon K. Y. Lee Foundation, is designed to give career planning services to working youth aged 25 to 35 with a university degree, through personal interviews and interactive activities. This past year, 300 activity hours and 200 personal counselling hours for 30 participants were provided.

Through the EXTRA MILE project, a community investment project of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, YEN launched the 4th Working Holiday@Lantau work placement programme. Exploratory programmes, free accommodation and learning subsidies were also provided for youth participants.

Project Update, supported by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, recruited graduates under the age of 29 by providing 100 hours of Skills Update Training and practicum from companies in five industries, including information technology, marketing, multimedia design, e-commerce, and information and communication technology, to equip the participants with better job-hunting skills and employment opportunities.

Project Bridge, provided one-stop support services for unemployed youth and secondary school students with special educational needs. It included career exploration, understanding personal strengths, career goal setting, skills training, guidance and follow-up by social workers, to enhance their employability. So far, more than 200 youth participated in the programme last year.

Career Exploration and Life Planning

The Life Banking Project targeted senior secondary school students and focused on school to work transition. This past year, 16,380 students from 65 secondary schools participated in a series of activities, workshops, seminars and individual counselling. During class suspensions, online parents talks and mock interview workshops were tailor-made for schools to respond to immediate needs.

Guide of Dream , sponsored by the Youth Development Committee, provided life planning services to 100 high school students and their parents from six partner schools. The project focused on goal setting skills and pursuing plans, while helping parents to appreciate and better understand their children.

Discover@Jobtionary , an online platform, provided comprehensive information on career and further studies for nearly 10,000 teachers and students. More than 4,000 students joined the school talks, to explore different possibilities in these unpredictable times.

With the support of GO! GingerOnion of Hang Seng Bank, YEN launched the “Be Brave, Be Yourself” Programme. During the summer vacation, a series of online activities were held for S4 to S6 students to improve their courage, curiosity and confidence. Activities included mock interviews, new learning skills and industry visits, to broaden career horizons.

YEN cooperated with the Investor and Financial Education Council to organise different financial education activities, such as workshops and talks. $avvy Planner Workshops were delivered to five organisations for over 300 youth enriching them with better financial management knowledge and skills.

Social Innovation and Youth Business Unit

The Social Innovation and Youth Business Unit (SIC) incubates young entrepreneurs and social innovators through various programmes and business support services. In the reporting year, the service unit served more than 25,300 guests and visitors, and organised more than 110 activities, including seminars, training, mentoring and networking events.

Incubation

From 2005, Youth Business Hong Kong (YBHK) has been supported by donors and foundations to offer one-stop services, including interest-free business loans up to HK$150,000. Since its launch, YBHK has received nearly 2,097 business proposals and 216 were approved, receiving loans amounting to HK$15,084,570.

Located near the Wong Chuk Hang MTR station, the HKFYG Jockey Club Social Innovation Centre was established in 2015. The Centre occupies nearly 5,000 square feet of coworking space and business suites, as well as workrooms for capacity building and incubation programmes. This year, over 70 tenants were stationed in the Centre and received incubation support from the Federation.

Interconnection

SIC developed various activities and events such as Instagram Academy, YouTube Creator Academy and Young Entrepreneurship Training that brought talents and professionals together to develop strong business networks, receive media exposure and connect with different professional leaders and experts.

A business mentorship programme for young entrepreneurs brought together groups of experienced and passionate business leaders and professionals to match their strengths with mentees’ pain points and suggest possible solutions. This year, the Unit organised over 40 Business Clinics to support over 200 start-ups from various fields and industries.

YBHK supported local entrepreneurs during pandemic. Youth Business International (YBI) rolled out a Rapid Response and Recovery Programme and organised 48 online events, funded by Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org. This supported over 1,000 underserved micro, small and medium businesses across the globe in response to the pandemic.

As a strategic partner of HKTDC Entrepreneur Day (E Day), the Unit invited four young entrepreneurs and co-organised a virtual Women Entrepreneurship Conference with HKTDC on 17 July 2020 for over 680 participants.

Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Public Libraries and the Federation, four young entrepreneurs shared their startup stories. Their talks, “Social Innovation by Technology” highlighted how they supported sustainability by social innovations.

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (HKGCYE) was founded by a group of enthusiastic and successful young entrepreneurs, supported by the Federation. The HKGCYE regularly organised seminars,

Social Enterprises

Café 21

Café 21, situated at the Federation Headquarters building, is managed and run by young people and provides quality food and beverages. Café 21 is available for seminars, training and private parties. The café also provides catering services to venue users of the Federation Headquarters building.

Ph3

PH3 is located on the third floor of a revitalised Grade III historic building on Lee Tung Street, Wan Chai. With three combined units and a terrace of 89 square metres, it is an ideal venue for private or company events, wedding ceremonies, small concerts, workshops or social gatherings. During the pandemic, PH3 organised a series of traditional cultural activities, including Cantonese culture classes, Chinese seal engraving workshops, and had a bridal chaperone share Chinese wedding traditions. PH3 also launched a youth music stage. In addition to providing a venue for young people to perform, it also hosted a live streaming programme - “uMusic Stage” and summer music courses.

Organic Farm

Established in 2010, the HKFYG Organic Farm has been serving thousands of loyal customers in the community for over a decade. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, farm visits were suspended or cancelled. Yet, freshlygrown produce could still be ordered online and more new customers were attracted. Once the situation became more stable, programmes and activities resumed. In addition to educational activities at the Farm, a "Farm in City" programme was co-organised with the MTR. It is hoped that the concepts of sustainability, green lifestyle and organic farming could be integrated into the participants’ daily life.

Hydroponic Farm

The Hydroponic Farm is also both a farm and education centre, focusing on producing diverse salad vegetables, Chinese vegetables, herbs, edible flowers and ornamental plants. The Organic Farming Experience Scheme allowed participants to rent a portion of the Farm to get hands-on experience on farming, promoting a sustainable lifestyle, supporting local agriculture and raising awareness on individual’s carbon footprint.