人才計劃大雜燴：圖添架構致混亂，精簡制度利引才

本文亦於2026年8月5日在【信報】刊登：人才計劃繁複混亂必須精簡

繼筆者發表上篇改善香港人才管理體制的文章後（見此），特區政府非但未能精簡並優化現行計劃，反而將架構繁衍、複雜化，催生出一連串相互重疊的新政策。此舉不僅令普羅大眾摸不著頭腦，恐怕連決策官員本身亦難以 釐清。下文將為讀者抽絲剝繭，層層剖析這套錯綜複雜的新體制：

自1997年主權移交以來，香港透過各項人才入境計劃，累計已吸引約136萬名海外人才來港。截至2025年，在所有獲批的申請中，仍有約55%來自最原始設計的「一般就業政策」（「一般就業」，即【圖一】中的紅色區域）。與此同時，「輸入內地人才計劃」（連名字都翹口過人，下稱「專才」，即橙色區域）則位列第二，共批准18%的申請。此外，新推出的「非本地畢業生留港／回港就業安排」（「IANG」，即綠色區域）在總吸納人數中佔據第三位，達14%。 

圖一：自1997年回歸以來香港各項人才入境計劃之累計獲批數字

然而，表面的成績卻掩蓋了一個深層次的問題：隨著各項政策互相重疊且日趨複雜化，申請人以至僱主都開始無所適從，甚至產生混亂，繼而削弱政策在國際人才爭奪戰勝出的原意。光是為了釐清這套錯綜複雜的制度，筆者已經投入大量精力來對這個新的行政迷宮進行梳理與分類，以下就是研究結果……

 

計劃架床疊屋，實情無此必要？

本文所作分析已排除薪酬水平低的勞工輸入計劃，並聚焦於「高學歷」人才板塊——因此，如「補充勞工優化計劃」（即外勞計劃，截至2025年中累批29,255人）及「外籍家庭傭工計劃」（亦常稱之菲傭/印傭計劃，截至2024年底在港外傭總數達367,971人）均未納入本研究範圍之內。

香港人才引進計劃的繁衍現象目前已達至失控狀態。當局非但沒有確立兩至三條清晰明確的渠道（例如：投資移民、專才引進及勞工輸入），反而炮製出一系列標奇立異的計劃：這些計劃各有自己的簡稱、申請門檻，甚至獨立的宣傳口號，惟其目標受眾卻是大體相同的一批申請人。此舉僅營造出政策「創新」的幻象，實際上並未實質拓寬現有政策的廣度。絕大多數申請人所需要的只是條理清晰且可預期的留港工作與定居路徑，而非一份充斥著高度重複標籤的菜單。

政策愈是層出不窮，外來人才與本地僱主在辨識適用渠道時便愈發困難，政策發佈人亦愈容易透過推出「全新」措施來宣稱施政成功。在深入研讀並梳理政府發布的繁複定義、統計數據、新聞稿及立法會答問會記錄後，筆者終於將目前的體制現狀匯編成下表：

表一：現行各項人才引進計劃之異同及對照

閣下是否開始頭暈目眩？這究竟是一條行能為本港輕鬆吸納人才的捷徑，還是官僚爆棚的行政陷阱？無怪乎體制的複雜，為坊間所謂的「中介顧問」創造了廣大的尋租空間，任由他們利用資訊差從中榨取申請人／僱主的經濟利益？

 

人才入境計劃亂象紛呈

與其盲目開闢全新渠道以吸引優秀移民，倒不如將各計劃更理性地舖排，將現行的引進管道歸納為少數幾項核心特質。事實上，現行的各項計劃大體上可輕易整合為以下五大範疇：

• 甲、資本導向：申請人必須在香港進行實質投資；
• 乙、專業技能導向：申請人須具備本港市場所需的專業技能；
• 丙、學歷導向：申請人需具備優異的學術資格或考試表現；
• 丁、勞工短缺導向：申請人旨在填補本地勞動力無法或不願從事的職位空缺；
• 戊、內地人士導向：申請人對象主要為內地居民。

各項既有計劃之間錯綜複雜的重疊關係，透過以下架構示意圖【圖二】能得到最清晰的呈現：

圖二：各引進計劃所針對之目標人才市場

透過是項分析，哪些計劃應予保留或刪減已經一目了然——任何兩個以上並身處同一區間的計劃，均應去蕪存菁，僅留其一。以下為應該可行的廢除選項（排名不分先後）：

 

• 專業技能（紅圈）：鑑於現實市場對實用技能的需求遠較對學歷文憑的盲目追求更重要，政府應取消「優才計劃」（QMAS），僅保留「高才計劃」A類（TTPS-A）。
• 勞工短缺（綠圈）：鑑於「一般就業計劃」（GEP）行之已久亦成效顯著，而「科才計劃」（Tech TAS）在全球狂熱追捧人工智能的當下，免不了有隨波逐流之嫌；同時，「專才計劃」（ASMTP）亦不應比更具資歷的全球頂尖人才享有優先權。因此，這兩項冗餘的計劃均應予廢除，只保留「一般就業計劃」（GEP）。
• 內地人士（黃圈）：基於促進家庭團聚的人道理由，讓香港居民的子女來港團聚，「港人二代計劃」（ASSG）有其存在合理性；然而，既然其他入境類別已能更有效滿足真正的才俊需求，顯然不需保留「專才計劃」（ASMTP）。
• 學歷（藍圈）：坊間普遍假設高學歷必然等同更優質的勞動力。這種觀念在二十年前或許適用，但時至今日，全球越來越多成功企業已開始摒棄唯學歷論（見Google錄用非大學畢業生，IBM與Apple亦在淡化學歷要求，甚至連會計師事務所也採取相同做法）。與此同時，學術界日益唯利是圖兼灌輸激進左傾教條化，更遑論單是中國每年就培養出1,100萬名大學畢業生。香港若要提升競爭力，顯然更應著力吸引創業家，而非僅專於應試的學霸。因此，筆者建議徹底取消此一類別所有計劃：「非本地畢業生留港／回港就業安排」（IANG）、「高才計劃」（TTPS-b，TTPS-c）以及「優才計劃」（QMAS）。

 

回歸基本步？

將單一且邏輯性的類別硬生分拆成多個冗贅的行政架構，除了滿足官僚短暫的自我感覺良好外，對香港經濟毫無裨益，更遑論那些由納稅人資助、如今職位卻被湧入的新移民所取代的本地畢業生。與此同時，香港的人才引進框架已明顯變得臃腫，衍生出大量繁瑣的行政程序。

筆者的建議將互相重疊的領域整合為界線分明且互不衝突的專項渠道。這是處理人口政策以及落實經濟技能配對最明智的方法。改革後的全新格局如下：

圖三：經合理化整合後的簡約入境框架

 

事實上，以上架構應能進一步簡化。基於「人才清單」的入境審批本質上只是官僚體制的產物，這意味著該類別亦可完全廢除，未來港府只需專注久經考驗的「一般就業計劃」（GEP，下【圖四】紅條）。換言之，冷氣間內歸類出來的技能短缺，永遠比不上市場真金白銀會聘請的實用技能來得實在，而只有後者方能令經濟真正受惠。 

圖四: 各項計劃的推出日期及截至目前的總審批人數

 

筆者特別鳴謝香港科技大學莊卓堯同學，香港城市大學陳凱琪同學和香港科技大學邱澤皓同學協助收集及整理本文相關數據及圖表。

Overcomplexity confuses/deters - HK’s talent schemes should be pruned

Following our comments on improving Hong Kong’s talent attraction regime (see link), the HKSAR government, instead of simplifying and rationalising the existing scheme, has multiplied and complicated the set up into a whole pile of new initiatives which are now overlapping and confusing not only to the casual observer, but probably to the administrators themselves. Let us unravel this massive entanglement in the rest of this article:

Hong Kong has attracted, cumulatively, some 1.36m fresh talent to the city since the handover in 1997 through various schemes; as of 2025 some 55% of approvals granted are still due to the original ‘vanilla’ scheme under the General Employment Policy (GEP, red bar in chart), but the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talent & Professionals scheme (what a mouthful, we will call it ASMTP below, see orange bar) has since taken a second position to have allowed 18% of PRC applicants to enter HK. Although not a permanent entitlement to stay, the then freshly introduced Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (another mouthful! or IANG below, see green bar) takes third position in total intakes at 14%:

Chart 1: Cumulative approvals for HK’s talent admission schemes since 1997 handover

This apparent achievement however masks a deeper problem: the proliferation of overlapping and increasingly complex schemes may be creating unnecessary confusion for applicants and employers alike, and undermining the original intent of making HK competitive in the global race for talent. We have spent huge amounts of efforts to try and categorise these various schemes, hang on to your seats…

A maze of pathways, but are they even necessary?

Our analysis here has excluded some of the other lower paid labour import schemes and focused on the ‘highly educated’ segments – so no Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS, totalling 29,255 by mid 2025) or Foreign Domestic Helper Scheme (FDHS, totalling 367,971 by end 2024).

Hong Kong’s talent scheme proliferation is now out of control - instead of two or three clear routes (eg. one for investment, one for talent, and one for labourers), we have now a long list of branded programmes – each with its own acronym, thresholds and marketing slogan – aimed at broadly the same pool of skilled workers. This creates an illusion of ‘innovation’ without expanding the real options available: most applicants still just need a predictable path to live and work, not a menu of near‑duplicate labels. The more schemes are added, the harder it becomes for individuals and employers to understand which channel to use, and the easier it is for government to claim success by launching “new” initiatives. Table 1 summarises the picture of current state of affairs, after we dug deep and summarised from the plethora of definitions and statistics, press releases and legco answers by the government:

Table 1: comprehensive compare and contrast of the various current talent schemes

What do you think? Is this an easy way to attract talent, or does it merely create paperwork and rent-seeking by so called ‘consultants’ who extract economic value from the applicants due to the system’s complexity?

Overlapping Talent Admission Scheme

Instead of blindly opening up new avenues to attract quality migrants, it will help to adopt a more structured approach, by categorising the channels of admission into a small number of key attributes – it is easy to summarise the existing schemes into 5 broad categories intended to attrace:
a) capital – applicants need to invest in HK;
b) expertise – applicants brings needed skills;
c) academic qualifications – applicants need to be good at passing exams;
d) labour in shortage – applicants fill jobs that locals cannot or will not fill;
e) mainlanders – applicants are PRC residents.

The rough overlap of the various schemes are best laid out in the following schematic.

Figure 1: segments intended by the various current admission schemes

It becomes very easy to suggest what to scrap and what to keep as a result of this analysis – any two schemes occupying the same segment should be cut down to just one. Possible abolition possibilities, in no specific order, are:

Expertise (red circle) – given the need for skills is far more important than endless collections of degree qualifications, QMAS should be abolished and just keep TTPS-A;

Labour in need (green circle) – given GEP is tried and tested, and Tech TAS smacks of ambulance chasing when everyone is bullish AI, while ASMTP should not really be given preference to better qualified global talent, these two superfluous schemes should be cancelled, and keeping GEP alone;

Mainlanders (yellow circle) – there is a familial reason to bring HK residents’ children to be reunited, hence ASSG makes sense, but ASMTP is obviously unnecessary when other categories can serve genuine talent needs better;

Academic Qualifications (blue circle) – there is a presumption that higher degrees make for better workforce. This is an attitude that worked perhaps up to 20 years ago, but with more global successful companies turning away from academic qualifications (see Google hiring non-graduates here, with IBM and Apple de-emphasising degrees too, see here, and even accounting firms, see here), and the academia increasingly becoming profit centres and woke factories, not to mention China alone churning out 11m university graduates a year (link), HK can surely do better attracting entrepreneurs instead of exam boffins. As a result, we advocate scrapping this category altogether (IANG, TTPS-b, TTPS-c, QMAS).

Back to basics?

Splitting single logical categories into multiple bureaucratic silos based on some arbitrary civil servant feel good fads is neither efficient nor beneficial to HK’s economy, let alone the local graduates paid for by tax payers whose jobs are now taken by floods of new immigrants. HK’s talent admission framework has also become bloated with institutional redundancy, creating administrative red tape.

Our proposals consolidate the overlapping areas into distinct, non-competing streams is the most sensible way to deal with population policy as well as economic skills matching, with the new lay of the land looking like this:

Figure 2: a simplified admission framework after rationalisation

In fact, we might be able to reduce the complexity even further – the fact that ‘expertise lists’ based admission being a bureaucratic construct means this category can be completely annulled and we stick only to the tried and tested GEP – in other words, imagined shortage of skill never beats actual skills in need, which the economy benefits from introducing.

Chart 2: date of scheme launches and total approvals to date

The author would like to thank Chong Cheuk Yiu from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology majoring in Economics and Finance for assisting in data collection and analysis of this article.

【施政報告】王震宇 寬免買樓辣稅難吸大量海外專才 20221020

 

【Now財經台】《施政報告》提出向外來人才退還買樓額外印花稅，不過，未有提及其他樓市「減辣」措施，地產建設商會表示失望。

《施政報告》提出，推出一系列措施更積極搶企業及搶人才。合資格人士在香港住滿7年並成為永久居民後，可申請為仍持有的物業退還已繳付的買家印花稅(BSD)及新住宅印花稅(NRSD)。

以1個樓價1000萬元的住宅物業為例，原本非本地居民須繳交樓價15%的BSD，以及15%的從價印花稅(AVD)，涉及300萬元稅款。不過，即日起簽署的買賣協議，當他們成為香港永久居民，只需承擔跟港人一樣，按「第二標準稅率」計算的3.75%印花稅，之前多繳的部分，即約262萬元可申請退回。

地產建設商會對《施政報告》沒有進一步為樓市「減辣」感到失望。

地產建設商會執委會主席梁志堅說:「(政策)幫不到樓市，有些失望。即使有人願意買樓也好，如果要滿7年才退還，即是做了與沒有做沒有太大分別，買樓住照樣要(支付)是完全沒有意思。」

有分析認為，措施不會突然吸引一批人士來港，亦不會影響樓市。

Bricks & Mortar Management主席王震宇說:「很多時過了4、5年後，才會決定考慮成為永久居民，你問很多外籍人士都會這樣回答。這個(政策)只會令到他們來港工作少了1個負面因素而已。」

王震宇認為，除按揭壓力測試，所有妨礙自由市場的樓市「辣招」都應該撤銷。

訪問來源：NowTV【施政報告】

NowTV Chanel 331

特此鳴謝

NowTV 記者：Sarene Ho

攝影及剪接：NowTV Production Team

請前往作者YouTube頻道觀看更多視頻: 王震宇宇論 Yulun

【樓市指南針】施政報告房屋範疇 20221019

 2022年10月13日

【Now財經台】

直播訪問內容：

1. 政府指，為了招攬人才合資格外來人士，在港置業居港七年並成為香港永久性居民後，可就已購入並仍然持有的首個住宅物業申請退還買家印花稅及新住宅印花稅。此政策吸引力如何？

2. 有業內人士指；有關調整稱不上「撤辣」，對其他推行十多年的「辣招」未有鬆綁亦感到失望。你會如何解讀政府維持「辣招」的舉措？

3. 當中有何利弊？是否真的很擔心「撤辣」令樓市升溫？

4. 包括你在內，不少分析已認定樓市處於下行周期。現時「辣招」維持亦未見有其他刺激樓市的政策；你對今年餘下時間及明年樓市前景有何最新看法？整體樓市買賣會否進一步萎縮？

5. 相比中小型住宅，豪宅前景是否更暗淡？

6. 施政報告公布前，元朗有新盤開價見到首批單位折實呎價重返2018年的水平；又提供「漸進式按揭」計劃。你會如何評估發展商短中期的賣樓壓力？推盤及定價策略會有何變化？

訪問來源：

NowTV【樓市指南針】- NowTV Chanel 333 Trading Hour

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NowTV 記者：Karmen Lee

攝影及剪接：NowTV Ingest & Production Team

請前往作者YouTube頻道觀看更多視頻: 王震宇宇論 Yulun

2022 HK policy address speech - Pro property and pro industrial 20221019

Key points of the policy speech are as follows:

a) all out attracting talent to HK - a must do given the loss of 140k population in the past 2-3 years, this is contained in divider a) below;

b) more drive for family office hub as well as other small measures of business support see divider b);

c) housing bad policy continues - i) plundering private market share with every rising PRH/HOS supply, resulting in every higher private home prices and ever more public housing slaves - what a missed opportunity! ii) displacing brownfields into new built industrial - likely insufficient vs demand; iii) private supply low, but development process shortening. see divider c);

d) major speeding up of infrastructure build out - mostly roads and rails, very positive and lots of opportunities opening up for the smart property investor see divider d).

In summary - talent will not come unless we lift the lockdowns, but otherwise by and large a pro property speech with lots of bright spots, but sadly will not help affordability of housing, which is unsurprising given how entrenched the public-housing vested interest groups is!

below are extracts of the speech, emphasis are mine, with odd comments thrown in:

-----------------------------------------------------a) Talent------------------------------------------------------------

Attract Enterprises, Investment and Talents to Enhance Competitiveness

26. …new institutional setups and implement an array of new initiatives targeted at attracting enterprises, investment and talents:

establish the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES), led by the Financial Secretary, for attracting strategic enterprises …offering them special facilitation measures and one-stop services;

establish the Talents Service Unit, led by the Chief Secretary…formulating strategies to recruit talents;

set up Dedicated Teams for Attracting Businesses and Talents …reach out to target enterprises and talents and persuade them to pursue development in Hong Kong;

set aside $30 billion from the Future Fund to establish the Co-Investment Fund for attracting enterprises to set up operations in Hong Kong and investing in their business;

launch the Top Talent Pass Scheme;

enhance existing talent admission schemes; and

upon becoming permanent residents, apply for a refund of the extra stamp duty paid for purchasing residential property in Hong Kong.

27. The OASES will:

1. draw up a list of target enterprises …to reach out to and carry out negotiations with the enterprises;

2. measures covering aspects such as land, tax and financing that are applicable exclusively to target enterprises, and …tailor-made plans to facilitate the setting up in Hong Kong; and

3. provide the employees …one-stop facilitation services in areas such as visa application and education arrangement for their children.

Trawl for Talents

29. Over the past two years, the local workforce shrank by about 140 000. … We will:

1. launch the Top Talent Pass Scheme for a period of two years. Eligible talents will include individuals whose annual salary reached HK$2.5 million or above in the past year, and individuals graduated from the world's top 100 universities with at least three years of work experience over the past five years. …two-year pass …not subject to any quota. Individuals who graduated from the world's top 100 universities in the past five years and have yet to fulfil the work experience requirement will also be eligible, subject to an annual quota of 10 000;

2. streamline the General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP), vacancies under the 13 professions in the Talent List with annual salary of HK$2 million or above, employers are not required to provide proof to substantiate their difficulties in local recruitment;

3. suspend the annual quota under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) for a period of two years;

4. relax the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG) by extending the limit of stay from one year to two years …expand to cover the GBA campus of a Hong Kong university on a pilot basis for a period of two years.

5. enhance the Technology Talent Admission Scheme (TechTAS) by lifting the requirement for technology firms to employ additional local employees;

6. extend the limit of stay of employment visas … will be valid for a maximum period of three years; and

7. refund the extra stamp duty …become a permanent resident …can apply for a refund of the Buyer's Stamp Duty and the New Residential Stamp Duty paid for the first residential property purchased which they still own, while the Ad Valorem Stamp Duty at Scale 2 rates is still payable such that the overall stamp duty charged will be on par with that charged on first-time home buyers who are ordinary permanent residents.

30. waive the requirement of applying for an employment visa for more visitors participating in short-term activities in Hong Kong. …will expanding to more categories.

---------------------------------------------------b) Business Freebies--------------------------------------------

International Financial Centre

37. …strengthen asset and risk management – …to offer tax concession for eligible family offices. The target is attracting no less than 200 family offices to establish or expand their operations in Hong Kong by end-2025.

45. support the convention and exhibition (C&E) industry …new $1.4 billion scheme …to subsidise more than 200 exhibitions to be staged in Hong Kong over three years.

46. To provide further support for SMEs, we will:

extend concessions of government fees and charges –reduce 75% of water and sewage charges for non-domestic accounts for eight months from 1 December 2022 to 31 July 2023, subject to a monthly ceiling of $20,000 and $12,500 respectively per household. …provide 75% rental or fee concessions …tenants of government premises and eligible short-term tenancies and waivers under the Lands Department for six months from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023.

----------------------------------------c) Housing Madness Continues-----------------------------------------

63. The Steering Committee on Land and Housing Supply and the Task Force on Public Housing Projects …submitted …reports. set the following key strategies and targets:

1. introduce the new Light Public Housing (LPH), with about 30 000 units to be built in the coming five years; [ed: only bureaucrats know how to create more complex structures over already bewildering complicated infrastructure]

2. increase public housing production by about 50% in the coming five years (from 2023-24 to 2027-28);

3. cap the waiting time for PRH immediately. …6 years and shorten it to about 4.5 years in four years' time (i.e. in 2026-27);

4. saleable area of all subsidised sale flats completed from 2026-27 onward will be no less than 26 square metres [ed: public housing becoming ever more luxurious and ever larger – no longer a safety net];

Private Housing Supply

66. …the demand for private housing in the next 10 years will be 129 000 units. …providing no less than 72 000 residential units in the next five years. [ed: private ownership is now an after thought in the bureaucratic housing steam roller]

69. …plan to make available land in Yuen Long and Hung Shui Kiu for development of multi-storey industrial buildings from next year, with lease conditions requiring a certain portion of floor area to be set aside for leasing to the affected brownfield operators below market rent.[ed: supply will be much less than displaced brown field site GFA by far, good for industrial property]

70. Tseung Kwan O (TKO) Area …provide 50 000 residential units with the first population intake in 2030 at the earliest. [ed: not a pleasant district – ultra high density dormitory town]

71. To substantially compress the time required for land production, we will:

1. streamline statutory procedures – …bill to amend the Town Planning Ordinance, the Land Resumption Ordinance, the Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamations) Ordinance, the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance and the Railways Ordinance, as well as amendment to the Schedules to the EIA Ordinance …the time required …reduced from at least 6 years to 4 years, …large-scale projects from 13 years to 7 years, of which the time for the EIA process will be compressed to within 18 to 24 months;

2. …charging land premium at standard rates for redevelopment of industrial buildings. …extend this approach, [from] only industrial buildings and in-situ land exchange applications in NDAs, to cover agricultural land in the New Territories located outside NDAs to compress relevant workflow; [ed: will speed up industrial revitalisation speed]

3. …lowering the compulsory sale application thresholds for private buildings aged 50 or above but below 70 from 80% to 70% of ownership, and further to 60% for those aged 70 or above. For industrial buildings in non-industrial zoning, the threshold will be lowered to 70% of ownership for those aged 30 years or above; [ed: great for industrial, bad for minority private ownership rights]

----------------------------------------------------d) Infra Galore-----------------------------------------------------

Drive Development by Transport Infrastructure

76. The six major transport infrastructure projects are:

1. Northern Metropolis Highway – It will facilitate east-west connectivity in the New Territories North between Tin Shui Wai in the west and Kwu Tung North in the east via San Tin;

2. Shatin Bypass – connecting Tai Po and Kowloon West …relieve traffic pressure on Tolo Highway;

3. TKO-Yau Tong Tunnel – …third road tunnel at TKO [for] TKO Area 137;

4. Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link – Hung Shui Kiu with Qianhai [ed: long shelved but now back on track];

5. Central Rail Link – …12th railway line will connect Kam Tin in Yuen Long with Kowloon Tong via Kwai Chung, alleviating pressure on the carrying capacity of the Tuen Ma Line; and

6. TKO Line Southern Extension –TKO Line southwards to TKO Area 137,.

77. …Kwu Tung Station of the Northern Link will be commissioned in 2027, …the Tung Chung Line Extension, Oyster Bay Station and Tuen Mun South Extension commencing next year.

78. …projects under planning, including Route 11, Tsing Yi-Lantau Link and Tuen Mun Bypass, as well as improvements to Lion Rock Tunnel.