ENB to offer nearly 1 000 environmental-related jobs under third round of Green Employment Scheme
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The Government earmarked in February this year an additional funding of $6.6 billion under the latest round of the Anti-epidemic Fund for the creation of around 30 000 time-limited jobs. Correspondingly, the ENB launched the GES for the third consecutive year to create or subsidise more than 600 time-limited jobs, covering mainly three categories of environmental protection work, namely "Electric Vehicles (EVs) Popularisation", "Use Less, Waste Less" and "Leave No Trace at Mountain and Sea". The full-time and part-time positions, lasting for six months to a year, are suitable for candidates with different skills and qualifications.
The first two rounds of the GES, launched by the ENB in 2020 and last year respectively, have created or subsidised over 1 000 time-limited jobs in the realm of environmental protection. The recruitment of relevant positions under the third round will commence progressively soon. To complement the promotion of EV popularisation, the ENB will create dozens of jobs in the realm of "EVs Popularisation”, mainly for processing applications of the EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme.
Moreover, the ENB has been implementing the strategies outlined last year in the Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035, including active promotion of waste reduction at source as well as waste separation and recycling. About 300 jobs will be created in this round under the category of "Use Less, Waste Less" to strengthen support for waste reduction and recycling, offering employment opportunities involving different positions in the community recycling network GREEN@COMMUNITY.
To enhance promotion of the "Leave No Trace at Mountain and Sea" outing culture, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) will create about 160 green ambassadors and project support positions via various organisations to promote green hiking etiquette to the public at popular hiking spots and promote conservation of the environment and ecology in the countryside. To protect the shoreline environment, the EPD will also recruit via contracting organisations around 100 staff members to engage in coastal cleaning and publicity work.
Apart from the aforementioned time-limited posts, the ENB will continue to run the Graduates Subsidy Programme under the GES this year, which provides employers of eligible graduates with a monthly subsidy of $5,610 to form part of the monthly salary paid to each eligible graduate for a period of 18 months. It is anticipated that the programme could fund around 300 newly created jobs. The programme aims to subsidise private companies and suitable organisations to employ fresh graduates working in areas related to environmental protection, provide opportunities for graduates who are interested in environment-related fields to enter the industry, and nurture talents for meeting needs on various environmental fronts.
Launched in 2020, the programme has been receiving a positive response from the trades, with the number of applications far exceeding the pre-set subsidy quota. So far, more than 650 graduates have joined different environment-related fields in the industry through the programme.
In addition to a salary subsidy, the EPD's Environmental Academy will continue to collaborate with various professional societies and organisations to run the GreenPro Training Programme. Participants of the Graduates Subsidy Programme 2022 will be provided with enriched professional training courses which cover various environmental protection topics such as global environmental issues and sustainable development, climate action, waste-to-energy content, environmental assessment and planning, water quality and noise control and sewage surveillance technology for tracing hidden COVID-19 cases, with a view to better equipping the graduates with different areas of expertise in the field.
The Graduates Subsidy Programme 2022 will be open for applications from July 4 to September 30. Details about the programme and the application form will be available at the EPD website (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/graduates_subsidy_programme.html) in early July.
Ends/Friday, May 20, 2022
Issued at HKT 11:00
Issued at HKT 11:00
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