More than one-third of Hong Kong employers expect to hire more workers in the next three months but economic pressures and the trend of residents heading across the border to spend their cash have made bosses more cautious about recruitment, a survey has found.
Human resources firm ManpowerGroup Greater China released a quarterly survey on the city’s employment outlook on Tuesday after interviewing 525 firms earlier this month.
It found that 37% expected an increase in staffing in the third quarter of this year, while 29% anticipated a decrease, and 32 per cent forecasted no change.
The net employment outlook index for the three months to September stood at 8%, down from 15% for the previous quarter when 40% of respondents expected an increase in hiring and 25% anticipated a decrease.
The index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers anticipating a decline in hiring activity from the percentage expecting an increase, with a positive figure indicating more bosses expect to add staff.
“The overall employment prospects in Hong Kong are stable,” said Lancy Chui Yuk-shan, senior vice president of the company.
“However, employers are adopting a more cautious approach towards hiring. This shift in hiring intentions is influenced by the ongoing decline in the international economic environment and the gradual shift of local consumption patterns towards the mainland market,” she added.
Chui noted that Hong Kong’s employment outlook index for the quarter was lower than the global level of 22%.
Globally, Costa Rica had the highest index, at 35%, while Argentina and Romania had the lowest, at 3%, according to the survey, which covered more than 40,000 employers across 42 countries and regions worldwide.
In the Asia-Pacific region, India and mainland China reported the strongest outlook, at 30% and 28%, respectively. Hong Kong’s 8% and Japan’s 12% were among the weakest.
The survey also showed that six out of seven sectors in Hong Kong had a positive employment outlook index for the next three months, with the highest, 32%, in the information technology industry, followed by 23% in healthcare and life sciences.
Chui attributed the strong employment momentum in the IT sector to the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in companies, which led to growing demand for skilled professionals.
She said 52% of the 525 companies surveyed had already adopted AI tools, while 25% planned to implement Al technology within the next year.
Employers in the consumer goods and services sector also reported a positive index of 6%.
Chui said hiring plans were prompted by Hong Kong lining up more than 100 mega events for the second half of the year as well as the expansion of a solo visit scheme to include eight more mainland Chinese cities.
“It is anticipated that these initiatives will stimulate an upbeat hiring pace in this sector, catering to the growing number of tourists and the rise in local consumption,” she said, adding that the growing number of mainland restaurants expanding to Hong Kong would also bring more job opportunities locally.
Authorities earlier announced that from May 27, residents from Taiyuan, Hohhot, Harbin, Lhasa, Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan and Urumqi would be able to apply to visit Hong Kong on a solo basis instead of being restricted to tour group trips.
Other sectors with a positive index were communication services at 9%, financials and real estate at 8%, and industrials and materials at 7%.
The only one with a negative index was the transport, logistics and automotive industry, at minus 17%.
Chui noted the transport and logistics sector had faced challenges from intensified competition and global trade disputes, which led to the declining container throughput and affected the logistics supply chain, causing employers to be more cautious about hiring.
The city’s unemployment rate stood at 3% between February and April this year, unchanged from the January-to-March period. – South China Morning Post
