Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung has opened a catering industry recruitment centre to boost employment through job-matching services to help both employers and staff.

At the opening ceremony today, Mr Cheung said while job preservation tops the Government's agenda, the continuous supply of work depends on sustainable development in the private sector, so supporting firms is the basis for job preservation.

"It is hoped through the central processing of job vacancies and on-the-spot interviews we can speed up the employment process so the financial pressure on the unemployed can be relieved as early as possible," Mr Cheung said.

The Labour Department posted more than 20,000 catering vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2008, up 5.7% on 2007. More than 5,400 catering vacancies are still posted.

The recruitment centre is located at 34/F Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai. It can accommodate recruitment counters for up to five catering enterprises and 60 job-seekers at a time. It opens 9am to 5.30pm Mondays to Fridays and 9am to 12 noon on Saturdays. Job-seekers are welcome to visit and use the centre's facilities free.

Today two catering firms erected counters offering more than 100 full-time vacancies with monthly salaries from $6,000 to $11,000 for on-the-spot recruitment.

About 80 catering establishments have pledged support for the new centre's recruitment services, and will mount job fairs there. Click here for more vacancy details.