Foreign Labor Hong Kong

Faced with severe labor shortages, industries in Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong--three of Asia's economic tigers--are relying increasingly on foreign workers from less-developed countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia. As a result, Asian labor is becoming a more mobile, transnational human resource--making the labor-poor and labor-rich nations of the Pacific increasingly interdependent and creating new opportunities for firms engaged in engineering, construction and labor contracting.

It's Sunday in Hong Kong--maids' day off--and in Statue Square in the heart of downtown, the ritual weekly gathering of Filipino domestic helpers is in full swing. Sheltered from the seasonal sun by the stone archways of a colonial-style courthouse at the edge of the square, Fely Gallenero and half a dozen friends have settled down on a straw mat to feast on roasted chicken, macaroni salad, fried rice, a vermicelli rice-noodle dish called pansit bihon , guavas and bananas.

It's Sunday in Hong Kong--maids' day off--and in Statue Square in the heart of downtown, the ritual weekly gathering of Filipino domestic helpers is in full swing. Sheltered from the seasonal sun by the stone archways of a colonial-style courthouse at the edge of the square, Fely Gallenero and half a dozen friends have settled down on a straw mat to feast on roasted chicken, macaroni salad, fried rice, a vermicelli rice-noodle dish called pansit bihon , guavas and bananas.

Faced with severe labor shortages, industries in Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong--three of Asia's economic tigers--are relying increasingly on foreign workers from less-developed countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia. As a result, Asian labor is becoming a more mobile, transnational human resource--making the labor-poor and labor-rich nations of the Pacific increasingly interdependent and creating new opportunities for firms engaged in engineering, construction and labor contracting.