Helpers in Hong Kong must train back home before joining planned foreign domestic carer scheme

Hong Kong's labour chief told LegCo on 21 October that foreign domestic helpers already in the city must return home for an accredited course before taking up better-paid carer jobs under a small pilot, with details expected by mid-2027.

Foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) already working in Hong Kong who want to move into the planned foreign domestic carer (FDC) jobs will first have to return to their place of origin to attend an accredited course, and then come to Hong Kong again to work as carers with new employers, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said in a written reply to the Legislative Council on 21 October.

Sun was answering lawmaker Elizabeth Quat, who asked whether the higher pay expected for carers could deal a blow to the existing FDH market. The SUN Hong Kong reported that the reply all but dashed hopes that helpers already in the city could move into the better-paid carer posts without having to return to their home countries.

What the preliminary proposal says

• Carers must have at least three years' experience in elderly care.
• They must complete, in their place of origin, a dedicated training course for FDCs formulated by the HKSAR Government.
• They must then pass an assessment in their place of origin, conducted by a local institution commissioned by the HKSAR Government, before they may come to Hong Kong for employment.
• The minimum wage for carers will be set slightly higher than the Minimum Allowable Wage (MAW) for FDHs.

To minimise the impact on the FDH market, the government said the pilot will be implemented on a small scale and in a gradual manner, with an initial intake expected to be in the order of a few hundred carers a year, and that it does not expect the scheme to disrupt the existing FDH market. The SUN reported that Sun had earlier said carers would be paid 10 to 20 percent more than helpers.

Why the government wants carers

The Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address announced the pilot to help meet the care needs of elderly people living at home, under the policy of "ageing in place as the core, with institutional care as back-up". Government projections show the population aged 65 and above rising from nearly 1.8 million in 2025, nearly a quarter of the total, to 2.74 million in 2046, over one-third.

Sun's reply also set out the size of the current helper workforce. There were about 382,000 FDHs working in Hong Kong as at June 2026, up from about 368,000 in December 2024. In the second quarter of 2026, 325,400 households employed FDHs, and 139,200 of them had elderly persons aged 65 or above.

The government said it will consider the views of the public and other stakeholders in working out the detailed arrangements, which The Standard reported are expected to be announced by mid-2027.

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