3 out of 4 Hong Kong firms struggling to source talent ahead of 2024, despite slight uptick in availability of skilled workers: survey
- Some businesses in Hong Kong resorted to offering higher wages to overcome personnel shortages, according to a ManpowerGroup Greater China report
- ‘The slight decrease in the talent shortage … suggests some improvement in the availability of skilled workers or effectiveness of [recruiting] strategies’, it adds
Three out of four companies in Hong Kong are struggling to source talent for the first quarter of next year, despite a slight improvement in the availability of professionals, an employment outlook survey has found.
Tuesday’s report from ManpowerGroup Greater China also showed that some businesses in the city had resorted to offering higher wages to overcome their shortages, with workers expected to enjoy an average salary rise of 3.3 per cent in 2024.
The quarterly employment outlook survey covered more than 40,000 employers based in 41 countries and touched on topics such as short-term hiring priorities, talent shortages and human resources targets.
According to the latest poll, about 78 per cent of Hong Kong-based companies were struggling to locate talent as they head into next year, down from the 17-year high of 85 per cent earlier this year.
“The slight decrease in the talent shortage … suggests some improvement in the availability of skilled workers or the effectiveness of strategies deployed by companies to attract the necessary talent,” said Lancy Chui Yuk-shan, senior vice-president of the workforce solutions company.
“However, since the talent shortage in Hong Kong still exceeds the global average of 75 per cent, it indicates that the region continues to face significant challenges in this area.”
The 525 local companies interviewed for the survey ranked information technology and data, sustainability and engineering as among the top skills they had difficulty finding ahead of next year’s first quarter.