Hong Kong wage earners to see lower pay rises this year than mainland China counterparts, survey finds

Hong Kong wage earners can expect pay rises of 3 to 6 per cent this year with a grim economic outlook and a struggling retail sector, while their mainland counterparts may see salary increases of 6 to 10 per cent, according to a recent survey.

Fifty-seven of the city’s employers planned to provide modest salary rises of between 3 to 6 per cent, while less than 20 per cent considered lifting pay by more than 6 per cent, the results showed. The findings were little changed from last year.

READ MORE: Pay rises will be smaller next year for Hongkongers, survey says

The survey was conducted by Hong Kong-based recruitment firm Hays and drawn from more than 3,000 employers across Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and mainland China, representing some six million employees.

Christine Wright, Hays’ managing director for Asia, said most of the surveyed employers were expecting skills shortages to “challenge efficient operations in the year ahead” but that overall employers would take a “cautious approach to salary increases over the next 12 months”.

Out of the five regions covered in the survey, Japanese firms were least generous, with only 8 per cent looking into salary rises of more than 6 per cent and 60 per cent of them only offering pay rises of less than 3 per cent this year.

Meanwhile, employers in the mainland stood out in terms of pay rise prospects, as more than 60 per cent of them intended to award their workers with an additional 6 per cent of their original pay or more.