At least 14 beauty salons, which mainly served employees in the financial sector, closed down in October and last month, with their customers badly affected by the economic crisis.
About 100 salon employees are among the nearly 6,000 people in Hong Kong who have lost their jobs in the past six weeks as the global financial crisis worsens. More job losses in the trade are expected.
Hong Kong Hair Dressing and Make-up Trade Workers General Union chairman Tong Kang-yiu said the beauty salons that had shut were mostly on Hong Kong Island.
'Most are in the areas around Wan Chai and North Point. These small and high-end beauty salons were most affected, as most of their customers worked in the financial sector,' he said. Mr Tong expects more closures after the Lunar New Year. 'Now is a golden time for the beauty industry, as the festive season is on the way and people have to attend parties and annual dinners.'
He blamed weak spending power and high rents on Hong Kong Island for forcing the salons out of business.
The union has received more requests for help from members who have not been paid for up to a month in the past few months.
'We are handling about 40 to 50 wage dispute cases. Our members told us many beauty salons ask employees to register a company and make them become self-employed so that their bosses only have to pay them when they have work to do and can avoid covering their fringe benefits and making contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund,' he said.