Most Hong Kong firms plan to boost pay by 3 per cent but pace of hiring set to slow, survey finds
- Some 82 per cent of firms will freeze their headcounts while about 35 per cent will either reduce their bonus payouts or offer no extra payment
- Hiring is expected to be slow, and companies may offer benefits, such as flexible working hours, well-being programmes
The poll found 82 per cent of the city’s firms would freeze their headcounts for this year, while about 35 per cent would either reduce their bonus payouts or offer no extra payment at all.
Consultancy firm Mercer surveyed 536 middle-to-large-sized Hong Kong companies across 14 industries between April and August last year.
Excluding those that had frozen wages, the poll found close to 70 per cent of businesses forecast an average pay increase of between 3 per cent and 3.5 per cent in 2021, a dip from 4 per cent in previous years. Management was expected to receive a median pay rise of 2.4 per cent.
Brian Sy, Mercer’s head of career products and total rewards for Hong Kong, said companies able to offer a pay rise were largely from hi-tech industries, such as e-commerce and life sciences, as well as insurance. The firms either posted strong growth despite the pandemic or emerged unscathed by the health crisis, he said.
Imposing a pay cut is the last thing they [companies] want to do … You can reduce the working hours, reduce the shifts and also ask the staff to take some leave
As of August last year, close to 60 per cent of the polled firms said they were uncertain about their salary increment budget for 2021, while 23 per cent expected the allocations to shrink. Between 15 per cent and 20 per cent said they expected to implement or continue salary freezes, and 6 per cent planned to impose a temporary pay cut.