In the face of the Great Resignation and a wave of talent emigrating out of Hong Kong, businesses grappling with skill shortages will need to invest more in staff retention.
 
While fewer respondents in Hong Kong SAR said they were actively looking for a job this year (30% compared to 36% in 2021), nearly half said that they were open to opportunities, based on findings from the 2022 Hays Asia Salary Guide.
 
Now in its 15th edition, the Guide compiles salary and sector overviews based on real data and a survey of skilled professionals across China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore. Over 9,500 responses were collected between October to November 2021. 
The top motivator for changing jobs was overwhelmingly the search for a better salary package (81%). 41% were after better benefits like healthcare insurance and allowances, while 38% were seeking new challenges.
 
“The last two years have seen people’s priorities shifting as they rethink how and why they work. While salaries are still important, for the first time, we’re seeing more people favouring healthcare benefits over career progression,” notes Sue Wei, Managing Director, Hays Hong Kong SAR.
 
Looking at people’s motivations for staying at their jobs tells a similar story. While top reasons cited – salary package, work-life balance, and job security – were consistent with previous years, the importance of job security is now on par with career progression. 37% of respondents said job security was the driver behind staying with their current employer, versus 35% for career progression. In 2019, before the pandemic, 28% chose job security and 35% career progression.
 
“Amidst the exodus of talent from Hong Kong, it is becoming more challenging not just to find top talent, but also keep top performing employees from leaving once a more attractive offer comes along. Given the cost of talent acquisition, investing in employee retention strategies, such as wellbeing programmes and work flexibility, is key if businesses want to speed up recovery and growth this year.”
 
For more 2022 trends and insights, download the 2022 Hays Asia Salary Guide.
 
-ends-
 
Contact name: Bill Wang
Contact job title: Marketing Executive
Contact email address: Bill.Wang@hays.cn
 
 
About Hays
 
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2021 the Group employed c.12,100 staff operating from 254 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2021:
 
– the Group reported net fees of £918.1 million and operating profit of £95.1 million;
– the Group placed around 60,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 220,000 people into temporary roles;
 
– 17% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 27% in Germany, 22% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 34% in Rest of World (RoW);
 
– the temporary placement business represented 61% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 39% of net fees;
 
– Technology is the Group’s largest specialism, with 26% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (14%) and Construction & Property (12%), are the next largest
 
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA