Hong Kong’s labour market looks promising in the near-term, with many firms having “respectable hiring plans” for Q3 2013, according to the latest employment outlook survey by human resource consulting firm ManpowerGroup. Lancy Chui, Regional Managing Director, ManpowerGroup Greater China Region, explains where the jobs are, and why employers are optimistic.
What has the latest data revealed?
The Q3 2013 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey results indicate that respectable hiring plans are reported by Hong Kong employers, with the most active hiring environments expected in the construction and services sectors. After removing seasonal variations from the survey data, Hong Kong’s net employment outlook* stands at +13 per cent. Hiring intentions improved slightly by two percentage points quarter-over-quarter, but weakened by one percentage point year-over-year.
Third-quarter hiring expectations remain steady in all six industry sectors surveyed. Job seekers are likely to benefit from the strengthened hiring pace in two sectors: finance, insurance and real estate; and mining and construction sectors, from three months ago.
What does this data tell you?
Manpower's employment outlook survey of 805 employers found that 18 per cent plan to hire more staff in the next quarter, compared to 14 per cent last quarter. Overall, 75 per cent expect to maintain current staff levels, while only four per cent intend to reduce staff over the next three months.
Hong Kong’s economy continued to grow moderately in the first quarter of 2013, by 2.8 per cent – slightly improved by 0.3 per cent over Q4 last year – which explains why some industry sectors are reporting an increase in staffing level. However, employers are generally taking a cautiously optimistic hiring pace and adopting a wait-and-see approach towards hiring activities due to the unsteady global economic environment.
In addition to the steady pace of economic growth, the latest unemployment rate stands steady at a relatively low level range of 3.4 to 3.5 per cent, representing a state of full employment. Nevertheless, the employment situation in the near term will continue to hinge on whether the pace of job creation is sufficient in the labour market, notably the evolving global economic situation.
Where are these jobs, predominantly?
Job seekers are likely to benefit from the favourable hiring climate in the July-September period, with employers of the mining and construction sector reporting positive workforce gains, with outlook at +15 per cent, improving slightly by three percentage points from three months ago, despite a slight decrease of three percentage points from the same quarter last year.
Hong Kong’s 10 infrastructure projects continues to place added pressure on labour demand within the construction sector. The commencement of such infrastructure projects as the Shatin-to-Central Link railway project, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Kai Tak Development Plan, and the government’s plan to increase public housing, have brought positive benefits to stimulate hiring activities in the construction sector.
Job opportunities are expected in the services sector as surveyed employers of the sector are predicting positive job growth with an outlook of +15 per cent. If tourism continues to flourish, it will spur growth in the critical areas within such services sector as catering, hotel and restaurants.
What about other employment bright spots?
More pressure is being put on an already inadequate IT talent pool within the services sector by the increasing demand for IT support and system engineers. Several multinational technology-based companies planning expansion in Asia are setting up data centres in Hong Kong to cope with the market need of cloud computing, and this is also shrinking the supply of qualified talent.
What’s the outlook elsewhere in the region?
Among the 16,000 employers in Asia-Pacific interviewed in our survey, positive forecasts are reported throughout the region and hiring plans are strongest in Taiwan (+35 per cent), New Zealand (+22 per cent) and India (+18 per cent).
The Chinese mainland’s net employment outlook (+13 per cent) slipped to its weakest level since Q1 2010, as employer hiring plans declined in all industry sectors and regions in both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year comparisons. Much of the weakness stems from considerable declines in the mainland’s finance and construction sectors.
What makes Hong Kong so resilient?
The uncertain external business environment is continuing to impact hiring confidence in the near term; yet, as explained, there are still some sectors that continue to increase staffing levels.
Also, while some areas within financial institutions have seen downsizing, roles in more profitable product lines are still hiring to capitalise on emerging opportunities. In addition to moderately stable hiring pace for revenue-generating roles, there is still demand for talent in risk-management and compliance areas due to the tightening of banking regulations.
Prospects for job seekers in the transportation sector is expected as employers report steady workforce gains. The picture is certainly glowing for job seekers in the transportation sector as the opening of the Kai Tak cruise terminal in June prompted more multinational cruise firms to expand their lines to Hong Kong, thus triggering even more hiring. Hiring activities are also steady within logistics and transportation-associated companies.
Also, the government’s support to reinforce and enhance Hong Kong’s position as an international shipping centre with high value-added maritime services has further propelled the hiring pace of the sector, with the logistics industry now taking up one-quarter of our GDP.
Finally, despite a weakened hiring pace anticipated by employers in the wholesale and retail trade sector (+9 per cent), the latest retail sales statistics will remain steady with support rendered by mainland tourists’ spending and local consumption demand.
* The net employment outlook figure is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a decrease in employment at their location in the next quarter.