Hong Kong consumer services feel pressure as young graduates cool to industry, survey finds
Long and unstable working hours as well as limited career paths are cited
Hong Kong’s consumer service sector is facing mounting pressure in recruiting young talent as a survey shows only 31 per cent of young graduates are considering working full-time in the industry.
The top three prevailing concerns identified by respondents were long working hours, limited career paths and unstable working hours that could affect their social life.
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Association vice chairman Cally Chan said: “Young people’s understanding towards the consumer service sector is very limited.”
She said the sector offered numerous occupations other than waiters, dishwashers and salespersons, such as shop mangers and administrators, that the city’s youngsters had failed to acknowledge.
“Ninety per cent of jobs in the food industry are frontline positions, but young people are more interested in logistics offers,” Wong said. He added that it was not easy for a fresh graduate to secure such offers when competing with more experienced applicants, especially in the economic downturn.
Other reasons deterring young graduates from entering the industry included high customer expectations, unstable income and fewer holidays than white-collar workers, the survey found.
Rebecca Tse So-han, general manager of marketing at Yata Department Store, said young employees in their 20s tended to leave their jobs quickly even after joining the industry.
“They aren’t able to bear hardships like the previous generation,” Tse said.
The survey also found that the city’s quality of service was able to stay high despite retail woes and political tensions. In this section of the survey, 91 per cent of the 200 respondents, who were all mainland tourists, said service met or exceeded their expectations.
According to research conducted by the Trade Development Council, Hong Kong is the world’s most service-oriented economy, with service sectors accounting for more than 90 per cent of GDP.
