The ageing construction workforce in Hong Kong: a review

Abstract

The scope and extent of public and private sector infrastructure projects in Hong Kong continue to grow rapidly. As a result the construction industry suffers from a shortage of skilled workers to support the ever increasing demands of the industry. Solutions for the manpower deficiency are: to encourage young workers to join the construction industry and to train them; and to retain the older skilled workers already employed in the industry. As at 2013, 12% of registered construction workers were over 60 years of age and therefore had already reached retirement age, and 44% of them were over 50. Obviously the ageing of the population of workers in the construction industry in Hong Kong presents a critical problem requiring an urgent solution. In order to retain older workers it is necessary to understand the health and safety needs of the aging construction workforce in Hong Kong. In this paper, a review of the ageing construction workforce is presented in order to better understand the needs and abilities of the older worker.