Mainland China, Hong Kong or Singapore? Asia’s race for expat talent intensifies as birth rates fall
- Mainland China is competing for foreign talent with Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which face a shrinking workforce
- Beijing shows no sign of lifting its stringent zero-Covid policy, which has prevented many foreigners from returning and is frustrating multinational firms
China’s pandemic controls and tough immigration rules have made it hard to recruit talent to the world’s No 2 economy, but even if the country removes barriers for foreigners, it faces stiff competition from other parts of Asia.
The mainland is competing for foreign expertise with Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which face a shrinking workforce due to low birth rates and ageing populations.
“To tackle the scarcity of talent, countries are rolling out new approaches to attract and retain talent,” said Lancy Chui, senior vice-president at the staffing firm ManpowerGroup Greater China in Hong Kong.
Foreign talent – from nurses to software engineers – is most likely to go where tax rates are “attractive” and immigration rules favourable, Chui said.
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Companies should offer salaries, housing allowances and educational aid for children that match local living costs, she said. Authorities can help by simplifying work visas and residency rules.
After first considering a move to Britain – where he has family connections – fashion industry veteran Omar Traboulsi chose Hong Kong because it was easier for a Lebanese citizen. He arrived in the city in July to manage relations with VIP clients for local watch vendor Wristcheck.
While major Asian cities have for years jostled for overseas talent, competition is heating up as regional birth rates decline. Marriages are being delayed due to rising childcare costs and young people are choosing to focus on careers and leisure, rather than kids.
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Hongkonger Crystal Hui decided against marriage and having children largely because “Covid came up and it seems there’s nothing you can be sure of”. Besides, the 47-year-old private school employee sees children everyday.
It is a similar story in other developed Asian economies.
Fertility rates in Japan began falling in the late 1980s and last year the population shrunk by 628,205 to 125 million.
One way Japan is looking to attract workers is by offering permanent residency to foreign nurses if they pass skills tests and their employers are willing to retain them, said Aiko Kikkawa, an economist with the Asian Development Bank in Manila.
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In Singapore, where the fertility rate has fallen to 1.12 births per woman over the past 40 years, the government plans from 2023 to let the spouses of foreign employees work there with pre-approval.
South Korea’s Ministry of Justice said in August it would kick off an internship visa programme for overseas university students qualified to work in hi-tech fields.
The Hong Kong Quality Migrant Admission Scheme increased its work visa quota to 4,000 this year from 2,000.
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People from mainland China normally help fill Hong Kong’s talent gap, but one-way permits have fallen to between 30 and 50, down from the pre-pandemic average, legislative council member Regina Ip said. The legal daily maximum is 150.
“We have always relied on mainland immigration to boost our labour force,” Ip told a forum on the city’s future at Hong Kong University last month. “Without that source of population inflow, our demographics have worsened, but the government is fully aware of all these problems and they’re working hard to deal with it.”
As many as 840,000 Asian migrant workers around the world returned to their home countries early in the pandemic, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development last year.
Hong Kong removed its hotel quarantine rules late last month, a relief to inbound travellers, and Taiwan will follow this week.
While competitive salaries and easy-to-obtain work visas will help entice the world’s best and brightest, experts say foreign workers also need a chance to shine.
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Firms in Hong Kong and Singapore – both long open to overseas influence – often allow foreigners to rise through the ranks even if “they weren’t on the management track from day one”, Kikkawa said. Other parts of Asia lag in letting foreigners advance, she said.
Syaru Shirley Lin, board chair with the Centre for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank in Taipei, said cultural and socioeconomic issues could arise if foreign workers cannot become part of a society.
But she added: “Overreliance on importing labour risks backlash from local communities, especially in many Asian countries that have not embraced a culture of immigration or have not internationalised.”
