Hong Kong's Labour Department will launch an initiative to provide a counselling service and job matching for the unemployed from December, Ming Pao Daily reports. The two-year pilot programme will award HK$5,000 to those who have successfully found a job and stayed on for at least three months. Offering 22,000 vacancies, the scheme will cost the government about HK$140 million.

Oil rig builders drive hard bargain

Offshore oil rig construction workers Down Under are being paid allowances of up to A$90 (HK$696) a day because their cabins lack private showers and toilets, reports The Australian. Unions have taken advantage of the tight labour market, recently negotiating pay deals that deliver welders as much as A$2,000 a day, causing employers to reassess the viability of future projects.

Finance workers expect bonus increase

Almost half London's financial services workers expect a bigger bonus this year than last year, according to a Morgan McKinley survey. Of 235 finance executives surveyed, 48 per cent said they expected a higher payout, while 73 per cent thought their bonus would be as much as a third of base salary and about 88 per cent of workers expect to receive a bonus. Bloomberg