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Over 40% of HK companies’ business incomes have dropped as a result of violence: poll
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/10/12 13:52:32
Photo: IC
The violence in Hong Kong has hurt the local economy and employment, as more than 40 percent of respondents to a poll said their company's business had declined, and unemployment has swept across more industries, Hong Kong's largest labor organization said on Friday.
A poll conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions showed that 41 percent of respondents said their company's business had seen declines, with 11 percent reporting the decline was more than 30 percent and 16 percent saying their income had fallen.
It is worth noting that under-employment, income declines and even layoffs have expanded to more industries. The tourism, food, hotels, retail, exports and wholesale industries are the most affected, followed by traffic, transportation, logistics, warehousing, and even security, cleaning, and personal services, the report said.
About 88 percent of the 1,197 respondents said that the most important thing for Hong Kong to do is restore social order, and 72 percent had agreed to set up emergency unemployment assistance in case the unemployment situation worsens. 55 percent of respondents believe that housing is the most deep-seated problem in Hong Kong, followed by 13 percent who thought that employment was the greatest issue, and 13 percent who pointed at the gap between the rich and the poor, the poll showed.
"Hong Kong's economic performance is expected to be worse than that of 2003, when SARS was sweeping the region, and unemployment will continue to emerge in all walks of life," the Federation warned.
It said workers' wages have been greatly affected by both the turmoil of the external economy and the recent demonstrations and violent shocks.
It urged the government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to take the lead in ensuring preventive measures for unemployment and in actively solving the housing problem faced by Hong Kong residents.
Hong Kong has been embroiled in street protests for more than four months, escalating to violence and riots that have seriously damaged the local economy.
The tourism sector suffered a significant downturn during the National Day holidays, as the number of tourists to Hong Kong dropped by about half during the first six days of the holiday, Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday.
Although the unemployment rate in the period from June to August was at the low level of 2.9 percent, the overall number of visitors to Hong Kong fell to 3.59 million in August, down by 39.1 percent year-on-year. Retail sales in August fell 23 percent from the same period last year, data from the HKSAR showed.
Posted in: ECONOMY