Overview of the manpower situation of creative industries
On-the-job training for creative industries practitioners
Mr CHAN Chun-ying observed that many of the practitioners in creative industries were young people. He asked if the Administration could provide statistics on the age distribution of those employed in the sector. Mr CHAN also enquired whether the Administration or employers would provide on-thejob training to young new recruits who did not have adequate academic qualification or work experience in creative industries.
Head of CreateHK said that the survey completed by CreateHK in 2016 on the manpower demand of creative industries (“the Manpower Demand Survey”) did not cover age distribution among those employed in the sector. He added that feedback from local tertiary education institutions indicated that many graduates chose to work in the fields of their studies and many young people were engaged in employment in various creative industries. As regards the provision of on-the-job training for young recruits, Head of CreateHK said that while employers would primarily look for employees with relevant work experience, internship programmes were provided under CSI and the Film Development Fund (“FDF”) to enable graduates to gain vocational experience in the creative industries.
Support for creative industries
Noting that practitioners in creative industries might be more prepared to set up their own business, and that a large number of these businesses were small and medium enterprises (“SMEs”), Mr CHAN Chun-ying asked, apart from funding support under FDF, CSI, Design Incubation Programme and Fashion Incubation Programme, whether other measures would be offered to help these new business set-ups to obtain financing. Head of CreateHK explained that under CSI, successful applicants, being partners with the Government, should not obtain any commercial benefit from the programme. CreateHK therefore would not be in a position to arrange financing service for SMEs under CSI. However, financing schemes to support start-up companies were available from other parties such as the Innovation and Technology Commission and Cyberport.