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2024 Human Resources Recruitment Trends in Hong Kong 

Remy Tang
Published Date2 Months Ago

AI RECRUITMENT AND TIGHT BUDGETS; EMERGING HUMAN RESOURCES TRENDS FOR HONG KONG IN 2024 

In a year headlined by local and international challenges affecting the economic outlook, businesses are exercising caution pertaining to growth and expansion. Spurred by a need to ensure operational continuity in a sustainable manner, leaders are revisiting recruitment and talent strategies in search of alternative solutions that enable their Human Resources team(s) to not just survive, but thrive.  

We have discussed at length the challenges accountancy, finance and technology teams face when it comes to balancing budgets while securing essential talent to satisfy changing business requirements. But with a shifting eye on current trends, we found it pertinent to explore how teams closest to sourcing, hiring, and managing employees currently fare in 2024. 

For a better understanding of talent trends affecting Human Resources here in Hong Kong , we spoke to Joe Lam, Senior Manager at Hays Hong Kong SAR with further insights on this evolving specialism from our Hays Asia Salary Guide. 

Download the full report for valuable insights into your recruitment and talent management strategy in 2024. 

 

CONTENTS 

  • LEANER HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTIONS, HIGHER CANDIDATE DEMAND 

  • OFFSHORING REPRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HUMAN RESOURCES LEADERS 

  • AI IN RECRUITMENT IS STILL BUDDING 

  • GAPS TO IMPLEMENTING AI IN HR WIDELY 

  • THE MOST IN-DEMAND ROLES IN HUMAN RESOURCES FOR HONG KONG IN 2024 

 

LEANER HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTIONS, HIGHER CANDIDATE DEMAND 

Many specialisms today face cutbacks amidst wider concern about the economic climate and human resources teams are no exception. 54% of human resources professionals across Asia expressed a lack of optimism for the economy today, slightly higher than the average of 51%. 

“Many companies have increasingly turned to cost-cutting measures in line with tighter budgets,” said Joe. “Nevertheless, there remains a shortage of candidates in Hong Kong as companies actively seek talent to drive corporate change.” 

Human resource professionals are adjusting their career plans accordingly, with 49% deciding to stay in the same role at their current organisation, instead of seeking new opportunities. Considering this, companies seeking to attract suitable candidates will need to tailor their benefits accordingly to remain attractive.

 
 
These candidate shortages are affecting confidence in fulfilling talent pipeline needs in the company. Only 51% of respondents were confident or very confident in recruiting candidates with the skills needed to meet organisation’s needs, lower than the 57% average for professionals from other industries.  

 

OFFSHORING REPRESENTS OPPORTUNITY FOR HUMAN RESOURCES LEADERS 

As part of austerity measures, some businesses in Hong Kong SAR have resorted to offshoring various human resources functions to Mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia in a bid to reign in escalating costs. 

Popular human resources functions for offshoring include payroll processing, recruitment, and training. Leaders looking for alternative paths to talent may wish to explore solutions beyond their borders. Reach out to us if you need assistance connecting with talent pipelines in another market. 

AI IN RECRUITMENT IS STILL BUDDING 

While many are keen to harness the power of Generative AI in the workforce, this technology has not yet been picked up heavily for recruitment in Hong Kong. 23% of employers in Hong Kong surveyed currently use AI minimally throughout the recruitment process, while 20% are only looking to explore it in the coming year. 47% have no plans to use AI in their recruitment processes yet.  

 

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Usage to date has mostly been for a mix of automation and optimisation of various tasks. 47% of respondents use it for resume screening and shortlisting, 25% use it to assist with interview scheduling and coordination, while 22% use it to perform predictive analysis for candidate fit. 

Additionally, while 60% of human resources personnel support the use of AI tools to help them perform their tasks at work, only 43% of them believe their organisations have embraced AI sufficiently to stay relevant in the future. 

 

THERE ARE STILL GAPS TO IMPLEMENTING AI IN HR WIDELY 

Understanding the barriers Hong Kong HR teams have with adoption is essential to formulating next steps. Only 44% of HR respondents in Hong Kong felt they were sufficiently equipped, or had a sense of how to acquire the required AI skills to succeed in their role in the next three to five years. 16% of respondents were unsure, while 40% disagreed or strongly disagreed with that notion. 
 
There are currently mixed sentiments when it comes to upskilling. Just over half of employees were confident that their employer would support them in developing the necessary skills for their role. HR leaders will want to explore pathways to upskilling to ensure that these expectations are met, especially if their organisations plan on introducing AI tools to their workforce. 
 

When polled about the primary challenges faced when implementing AI, the top three factors that surfaced were as follows: 

  • 51% of human resources respondents were concerned about the quality of talent 

  • 41% cited budget constraints  

  • 31% mentioned concerns about receiving training to use the AI tools efficiently 

  • 25% cited concerns regarding training HR staff to effectively use AI tools 

  • 25% were worried about data privacy and had security concerns 

Unlike their HR-peers, non-HR professionals had ranked their top 5 key challenges for AI implementation in recruitment differently. 

 
 

The survey showed that the widest difference between both groups were budgetary concerns to implement AI recruitment tools, with 65 percent more HR professionals expressing concern compared to non-HR professionals. Budget constraints were also the key challenge highlighted by HR professionals in Malaysia and Singapore. Establishing the long-term cost savings and efficiencies of AI implementation will be crucial to the adoption of AI in recruitment. More HR professionals in Hong Kong SAR also expressed concern regarding data privacy and security and a lack of human touch and personalisation, as compared to their peers. 

 
As AI education grows more widespread among the populace, concerns regarding the ethical usage of AI tools in recruitment, especially for determining candidate employability, have naturally risen. 42% of HR professionals in Hong Kong believe organisations should disallow the use of AI tools until there are sufficient regulations and ethical safeguards in place, while 18% remain unsure. 
 

Businesses have a lot of ground to cover when it comes to AI policies. Only 23% of HR professionals acknowledged that their organisation or leader had issued an AI tool usage policy or provided guidelines on AI usage and restrictions for work. Addressing these concerns will be crucial to foster trust in hiring processes. 

 

THE MOST IN-DEMAND ROLES IN HUMAN RESOURCES FOR HONG KONG IN 2024 

These are the top four most in-demand positions in HR for Hong Kong in 2024: 

  1. Senior Human Resources Business Partner 

  2. L&D Manager / Talent Development Manager 

  3. Human Resources Generalist 

  4. HRIS Manager 

Interested to learn more? Our Hays Asia Salary Guide covers Hong Kong SAR, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, compiling salary and survey findings of nearly 9,000 employers and professionals across the region. 

Get comprehensive data for multiple industries’ salary benchmarks in Asia and industry recruitment overviews to guide your talent management or career decisions.

Download your full report!

 

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