Cyberport and the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) joined hands to launch the Youth Start-up Internship Programme, providing young talents with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the Innovation and Technology (I&T) industry and to learn about its current development and prospects, while enabling start-ups in the Cyberport community to recruit young talent, creating a win-win situation.
Employers under the Programme may engage interns in full-time, part-time or mixed mode, where the Government will provide a subsidy of up to HK$10,500 each month per intern. Interns should complete at least 100 hours of work during the three-month internship period. During the internship, students can participate in training activities organised by Cyberport Academy, such as business sharing sessions, business visits, workshops and so on.
The first phase of the Programme offers 30 internship positions for post-secondary institution full-time students aged between 18 and 30. Applications are now open on Cyberport’s I&T recruitment platform, “iTalent”.
The Programme has been well-received, with applications from 168 start-ups offering more than 440 job vacancies within a week, indicating their heavy demand for talent. Apart from technical and design-related positions, internships in non-technical capacities such as corporate communications, business development, marketing and data analysis are also offered.
In general, start-ups specialising in smart living solutions offer the most vacancies, encompassing EdTech, RetailTech, HealthTech, IoT, as well as FinTech, digital entertainment and esports. Based on criteria including the companies’ past experience in running internship programmes, qualifications and achievements, work scope and expected outcome as well as on-the-job training and support, 30 vacancies from the above areas are being selected under the Programme for student application.
Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport said, “With support from the Central Government of PRC, the HKSAR Government is stepping up its effort in grooming I&T talent to capitalise on the rapid growth of the industry. Nurturing talent has been one of the core mission of Cyberport. Over the years, Cyberport has launched many internship programmes in collaboration with government departments and tertiary institutions, creating numerous learning and job placement opportunities in the I&T industry for the younger generation. I am very glad to see the enthusiasm of start-ups towards the Youth Start-up Internship Programme, which is an indication of the thriving industry. Cyberport will encourage the participating start-ups to provide returning offers to the interns, thus further expanding Hong Kong’s talent base and ensuring we have sufficient new blood for the robust and diverse I&T industry.”
“iTalent” is Cyberport’s integrated I&T talent recruitment platform aiming to enable the community companies to match suitable talent with job vacancies in a cost-effective way. With support from government departments, technology giants and tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, the platform caters to jobseekers’ needs and makes it easier to find their dream jobs, while streamlining the recruitment process and improving its effectiveness.
