Hong Kong loses out to mainland China, Singapore when it comes to marketing, financial sector pay, survey shows
- Senior sales and marketing managers in China paid at least double than their Hong Kong counterparts
- Poll finds mental health a concern but shows money is what counts when it comes to changing jobs
If you are a sales and marketing manager with more than 10 years of experience, then mainland China is where you should be. Average salaries there are at least double that of Hong Kong, according to a survey by recruitment firm Links International.
The study polled more than 700 respondents in Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore. It found the average monthly salary for general managers working in sales and marketing on the mainland was between 200,000 yuan (US$29,769) and 300,000 yuan. Their counterparts in Hong Kong received HK$100,000 (US$12,749) per month.
The figures refer to base salaries, which means actual pay might be a lot higher. There was a big jump in salaries for these roles in mainland China last year. Average monthly pay stood at 150,000 yuan in 2018, an increase of between 33 per cent and 100 per cent from last year to this year.
The main reason for the difference in salaries was that many multinational companies have moved regional offices to mainland China.
Keith Wong, country director for Hong Kong and Singapore at Links International, said: “Hong Kong has historically been the multinational regional hub, but nowadays a lot of Hong Kong offices don’t cover the China market, contributing to the decline in the number of senior roles.”
The lack of large home-grown internet companies in Hong Kong is also to blame. The mainland’s internet sector has grown by leaps and bounds, and senior roles are very well paid.
“The pay at internet companies on the mainland is really high. Hong Kong doesn’t have that many large-scale companies in this sector. But the salary from industry to industry also varies a lot,” said Daisy Li, a Shanghai-based recruiter.