8:30am-9:15am: domestic helper shortage

8:30am-9:15am: Eni Lestari, Founder of the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers

8:30am-9:15am: Chan Tung-fung, Chair, Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies 

9:15am-9:30am: Japan’s new PM

9:15am-9:30am: William Pesek, Tokyo-based journalist and author

On Tuesday's Backchat: A shortage of domestic helpers; and Japan’s new prime minister.
An additional 200 quarantine rooms at Penny’s Bay for inbound domestic helpers were snapped up, almost immediately on Monday, when bookings reopened. And this has left many employers disappointed, amid a territory-wide shortage of domestic helpers.
Labour chief, Law Chi-kwong, has previously acknowledged; there weren’t enough domestic helpers coming in to satify demand, but stressed that numbers must be carefully managed to minimize Covid risks.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to freeze domestic helper wages at HK$4,630 for the second straight year.
After 9:15am, we’re discussing another change of leadership in Japan, with a former foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, formally taking office as the new prime minister.