Some 50,000 construction workers in Hong Kong have lost their jobs since the coronavirus epidemic hit, and more than 80,000 have had their hours slashed, a union said on Monday.

The Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union said half of its 57,000 members were now unemployed, a situation it attributed to supply chain issues that had arisen since the outbreak began.

Some 250,000 people work in the industry in Hong Kong, and the union said a fifth had been laid off while a third of those fortunate enough to still have jobs had been reduced to working one or two days a week.

Wong Ping, the union’s chairman, said the coronavirus had forced many factories in mainland China to stay shut until a week ago, affecting the amount of building materials that could be brought into the city.

“The construction chain intertwines with one another. If we do not have some of the materials, we cannot proceed to the next step,” Wong said.

“For example, some workers can nail boards first [for shuttering], but without cement pouring in as the next step, you cannot proceed to nail boarding for the other floors.”

Chow Luen-kiu, the union’s former chairman, said the inability to ship some prefabricated parts for housing estates to Hong Kong had caused delays in projects.

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