Hong Kong’s tourism workforce will be thrown a lifeline with officials set to offer its embattled staff members nearly 2,000 temporary jobs with the city’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, the Post has learned.

The full-time roles – with monthly pay ranging between HK$10,000 (USD 1,287) and HK$40,000 – involve supporting operations at most of the city’s 29 government-run vaccination centres, in areas including crowd management and administration, according to sources. Part-time vacancies are also said to be opening, paying a minimum of HK$100 an hour.

Several labour unions welcomed the move as a way of easing the burden on industry staff and retaining talent, but one senior industry figure described the offer as “pitiful”.

Travel industry legislator Yiu Si-wing said representatives would be meeting the Civil Service Bureau on Monday to discuss allowing tourism workers to take over the administrative roles at the community vaccination centres currently filled by public servants.

Yiu said there would be an estimated 2,000 job openings at 20 vaccination centres, with 50 to 60 workers covering two-hour shifts at each venue.