The Development Bureau today announced that training subsidies for employers hiring graduates and assistant professionals of the engineering, architectural, surveying, town planning and landscape sectors will continue this year.

The bureau said that fresh graduates of relevant professional sectors and assistant professionals who have just completed training are facing difficulties in securing jobs because of the impact of COVID-19 on the job market.

The Government's Support for Engineering, Architectural, Surveying, Town Planning & Landscape Sectors 2.0 will provide employment opportunities to retain talent for the long-term development of these sectors.

A total of 1,700 subsidy places, divided into two groups, will be provided under the support measure.

The first group with 550 subsidy places is for fresh graduates who studied architecture, surveying, town planning and landscape architecture.

Employers will receive a subsidy of $5,610 per month for up to 18 months for providing recognised professional training to each eligible graduate employed.

The second group with 1,150 subsidy places supports private organisations to employ assistant professionals of the engineering, architectural, surveying, town planning and landscape sectors.

Employers will receive a subsidy of $10,000 per month for up to 12 months to provide opportunities for recognised professional practice to each eligible assistant professional employed.

The subsidy under the second group is mainly targeted at assistant engineers who complete the Scheme A Graduate Training of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers this year. For the other four sectors, assistant professionals who complete the training recognised by the relevant professional institutes this year will have priority in receiving the subsidy.

The subsidy scheme will open for applications from June 18. The deadline for application by the graduate group is November 30 and that for the assistant professionals is August 31.

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