Hong Kong’s employers are in the mood to hire as visitors return and the labour supply shrinks in the wake of Covid-19. Two in five senior executives in Hong Kong expect to increase their headcount this year, according to KPMG’s salary outlook survey of over 1,300 professionals in Hong Kong and mainland China. Consumer markets, information technology (IT), financial services, professional services, real estate and the civil service were the six sectors that were covered in the poll.
The consumer market sector saw the greatest demand in terms of filling vacancies—45% of employers wanted to hire additional staff, up from 28% last year. The ‘Hello Hong Kong’ charm offensive, implemented by the government in an effort to attract leisure tourists, had a positive impact on the sector as did the distribution of consumption vouchers to stimulate consumer demand.
Uniqlo, the Japanese fast fashion chain, was just one example of a company that felt the pinch of the labour shortage and responded by upping salaries by up to 24%. The IT sector is also supported by government investment—HK$16 billion has been pledged to help make Hong Kong a hub of innovation and technology. 83% of IT employees expect a salary hike in 2022 compared to 62% the previous year.
KPMG, the survey provider, was established in 1987 and has since expanded to become one of the world’s largest professional services organizations with more than 210,000 employees operating in over 150 countries. KPMG’s services coverage include auditing, tax, finance and professional services such as finance, data and analytics and risk management.
Peter Shiu Ka-fai, who was mentioned in the article and represents the retail industry constituency in Hong Kong’s legislature, commented on the matter and the pressure for companies to attract new hires in light of the manpower crunch by offering a salary premium of up to 20%. He believes that the worst of the pandemic is now behind Hong Kong, and companies will be able to move forward with recovery as visitor numbers return to pre-pandemic levels.
