Hong Kong’s Elevator Maintenance Industry Severely Understaffed

The Standard describes the Hong Kong elevator maintenance industry as being “in crisis,” with severe understaffing and excessive overtime impacting workers. There are 4,000 registered elevator technicians in the Chinese special administrative region (SAR) who maintain more than 80,000 units — “an impossible workload that sees each worker handling six-eight elevator daily while being on constant call for emergency repairs.” Maintenance technicians in Hong Kong SAR routinely work more than 300 h per week — a nearly 70 h workweek. The source illustrated the issue with the story of a 59-year-old father and family man who collapsed on the job and died of heart disease after routinely working 352 h per month during his final six months. “While countries like Japan and Taiwan recognize overwork-related deaths (known as karoshi) and provide compensation, Hong Kong families must fight lengthy court battles with little hope of success,” The Standard concluded.