Job hunters: Assistant Labour Officers Yeung Lin-cheung and Florence Tai have been flat out finding post-SARS job opportunities for the unemployed.

While most commendations have focused on frontline SARS fighters, many civil servants have been working hard since the outbreak helping get society through the disease's aftermath.

They include several Labour Department officers who have dedicated themselves to securing job opportunities for thousands of unemployed during and after the epidemic.

Assistant Labour Officer Florence Tai, who helps the disabled find jobs, said the labour market was in the doldrums during the epidemic.

"Normally, I can secure about 20 places per month for my clients. However, only 10 places could be secured in April," Miss Tai said.

Fearing SARS carriers, many companies cancelled their recruitment interviews and refused to receive the department's staff and their clients.

Some employers who initially agreed to offer job opportunities withdrew or postponed their offers.

"So to strengthen my employer network, I made extra efforts in sending friendly greetings to the employers who have been using our service and making calls to new companies," Miss Tai said.

Her persistence was rewarded when nine new companies agreed to meet her and five extra vacancies were secured for her clients in April.

Miss Tai also had to take care of the psychological problems of her clients during the epidemic.

"A number were emotionally disturbed by the outbreak. Some were so scared they refused to go to work or attend job interviews."

To alleviate their worries, Miss Tai offered counselling services to clients and their families. She also advised them on which SARS precaution measures to take when attending job interviews and offered them facemasks.

Although rejection by some employers sometimes got her down, Miss Tai never lost enthusiasm in finding suitable job places for her clients.

"I understand that we can do very little to change the economic situation and the labour market, however, I believe we can help more job seekers if we try harder to explore job opportunities," she said.

Many sectors were hard hit by SARS, seeing increased labour disputes.

Working as a conciliation officer in the department's Labour Relations Division, Assistant Labour Officer Yeung Lin-cheung said one of the major problems he encountered during the outbreak was employers refusing to visit his office to meet with employees.

"Under normal circumstances, we explain the legitimate rights and responsibilities of both employers and employees in the presence of both sides. However, during the outbreak, we could only conduct conciliation meetings via speakerphone, making it more difficult to communicate," he said.

Although the epidemic caused a lot of inconvenience, Mr Yeung said the crisis made both employers and employees adopt a more co-operative attitude in dealing with disputes.

"As both sides were facing the same difficulties during the outbreak, they tried to be more considerate in negotiations for compensation arrangements," he said.

Mr Yeung said some employers even agreed to offer better compensation terms to employees who were residents of Amoy Gardens' Block E.

"The SARS fight has shown that employers and employees are not always at odds. It also proved that Hong Kong is a city filled with care and love."