More than three-quarters of Hong Kong companies have never employed young people with special needs, a survey by a major youth group has found, although firms are open to such hirings and called for more support.
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups revealed on Monday that 76.5 per cent of firms polled said they had never hired youngsters with special education needs, but 74.4 per cent expressed an interest in doing so in the future.
“Those who haven’t hired youth with special needs, around 70 per cent, think they may need a lot of additional time and training effort that is unfamiliar to human resources departments,” said Miranda Wong Ho-yee, a supervisor in partnership and employment at the federation.
She added that another concern was whether the “jobs were good fits for these youth”.
The federation surveyed 102 companies across at least 15 sectors. While 78 had never hired young people with special education needs, 58 of those firms said they would consider recruiting such youth when there was an opportunity.
Special education needs in the survey included attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia, as well as speech and language impairments.
Firms said the most favourable measures to incentivise them to hire such staff were prior notice on candidates’ special needs, tips on work delegation and regular follow-up action from social workers.
About 75.4 per cent also said a collaborative internship programme organised with social service organisations would encourage them to hire more special needs youth.
Wong said companies wanted to know about any particular special needs or conditions in advance to determine whether the candidate was suitable for the role.
“In our experience, we know this is a win-win situation as the candidate is willing to disclose their condition while the company is still willing to provide an opportunity despite knowing about their needs,” Wong said.
Employers with experience hiring workers with special needs have said internship programmes, social worker help and a willingness to understand the needs and strengths of each employee will facilitate a good fit in the workplace.
Peann Tam Pui-ying, business development director of social enterprise Eco-Greenergy, who has been hiring special needs workers mostly with autism spectrum disorder for eight years, said an internship had been crucial for the early stages of employing such staff.
Tam said all her employees with special needs had joined the social enterprise after an internship, where the firm could get to know their needs and strengths with the guidance of a social worker while letting the candidate try out tasks to see if they fit the workplace.
“Sometimes even the social worker isn’t fully aware of the candidate’s profile. That’s why we need an internship. A lot of context and environmental factors [during the internship] will bring out the student’s entire profile,” Tam said.
Molly Lau Ho-yee, assistant manager in people engagement at ISS Facility Services, who has been hiring staff with special needs for six years, said social worker support had eased her burden in taking care of these employees’ progress.
“From recruitment talks in June to receiving applications, I will need to interview them, conduct pre-deployment training and then do monthly follow-up reviews and training,” Lau said.
“How will I manage this when I hire 12 employees [with special needs] per year? If no one helps me, I could not have managed it.”
Both Tam and Lau agreed that having a job provided a boost for special needs youth, citing testimonies from their staff’s families and former teachers about how these individuals had grown after joining the workforce.
Paul Wong Wai-ching, associate professor in the department of social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong, said both employers and colleagues needed advance notice of a new hire’s special needs to adjust work arrangements.
“The integration [of special needs employees] into the working team is important, and that doesn’t just depend on the boss. Endorsements from colleagues are also necessary as clashes usually happen between colleagues,” Wong said.
