share on
However, employees' satisfaction with salary adjustments has only marginally increased by 0.01 percentage point from last year, with most open to exploring possibilities elsewhere.
As the employment market grows stronger, employees in Hong Kong are seeing their salaries rise for three years in a row. According to the latest Job Seeker Salary Report 2023 by JobsDB, average pay rise in 2023 has been recorded at 4.1%, the highest increase in the past four years, maintaining its trend of outpacing inflation.
The report is based on online survey responses from 3,797 local employees sampled between February and March 2023. The results showed that over six in 10 (61%) full-time employees received pay rises, representing a significant increase from last year's figure of 53%. The proportion of salary freezes (35%) and pay cuts (4%) also decreased by six percentage points and two percentage points respectively since last year.
Meanwhile, more than 76% of surveyed employees received bonuses and double pay, a four-percentage point increase from the previous year, with an overall average of 1.4 months' bonus, similar to previous year.
Digital-related talent remains in high demand. The three job functions which claimed the highest pay rises are:
- Analytics (+9.7%),
- Digital marketing, e-commerce, and social media (+7.3%), and
- Information technology (+6.6%)
It is noteworthy that frontline workers who were most affected by the pandemic are finally experiencing positive growth. Workers in food and beverage, retail sales, and hospitality and tourism have recorded a salary increase of 0.6%, 1.2% and 3.2% respectively.
Employees are seeking more compensation and benefits through job changes
Despite employers being more generous this year with salary and bonus paychecks compared to the past two years, employees' satisfaction with salary adjustments has only marginally increased by 0.01 percentage point from last year. Only 30% of respondents who received bonuses reported being "satisfied" or "very satisfied," a clear drop from 37% in the previous year.
Meanwhile, as the pandemic fades, as many as 83% of respondents are neutral to positive about the employment market, up 23 percentage point from last year. As a result of the job market recovery, workers are more ambitious than in past years, seeking more compensation and benefits through job changes, marking a major shift from the hesitation towards job changes amidst market uncertainty in previous years.
Eighty percent of respondents are open to exploring greater possibilities elsewhere; workers aged 26-30 are the most aggressive, with up to 43% wanting to jump ship in the next three months. Among those wanting to jump ship, 79% of the respondents predict a higher salary in their new positions, up five percentage point compared to last year.
Employees' expected job search period has also shortened from 5.6 months to 4.8 months, with more than 30% expecting to secure a new job within two months.
The top three factors pushing employees to seek new jobs are:
- Dissatisfaction with salary or benefit (41%),
- Seeking higher pay (even at same rank) in new job (40%), and
- Discontentment with company culture or management style (36%)
On the other hand, the reasons for employees staying in their current positions are:
- Satisfaction with their current workload or working hours (42%),
- Enjoying a good relationship with current supervisors or co-workers (38%), and
- Satisfaction with the salary and other benefits (33%)
The gap between what employers offer and what employees expect
As the post-pandemic era begins, the stress levels of Hong Kong employees have yet to subside. Over half (51%) of the respondents stated their work stress has not lessened in the post-pandemic period, while 43% believe it has grown.
The top three causes of work stress are:
- Increasing workload (65%),
- Heavier financial burden (35%), and
- Uncertainties about their career path (30%)
Two-thirds of respondents said their employers gradually rolled out measures to help employees balance work and life, but the implementations did not meet their expectations.
The top three measures with the greatest discrepancy between employers and employees are:
- Four-day/4.5-day workweek, with a 44% need gap (meaning that 68% of respondents expect this welfare, but only 24% of respondents' companies provide match the need),
- Wellbeing leave / flexible leave, with a 20% gap, and
- Flexible working hours, with a 16% gap.
According to the report, 68% of respondents prefer hybrid or remote work, yet only 32% of businesses have implemented and maintained relevant work policies, a substantial decrease from 69% in 2022. The observation suggests that some businesses are returning to the "old normal" of working in an office, a far cry from the work arrangements that employees desire.
Providing upskilling opportunities: Another key to retaining talent
Aside from their work environment, physical and mental health, one of the major concerns of employees is improving their competitiveness. Employers who provide appropriate upskill training are highly desirable to more than three-quarters (77%) of respondents, with 75% prioritising acquiring job-related hard skills and professional knowledge training, and 55% valuing soft skills training.
The most desired hard skills training modules are:
- Professional certification (50%),
- Data analysis (36%), and
- Language skills (32%).
The most sought-after soft skills training modules are:
- Leadership and management skills (81%), and
- Interpersonal and communication skills (66%).
Bill Lee, Managing Director of JobsDB Hong Kong, believes that providing upskilling opportunities and respecting work-life balance will be critical in retaining talent in the future.
"The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, resulting in an increased demand for digital skills. The intensifying 'skills mismatch' situation means that on-the-job training is becoming more important for both employers and employees," he added. "Over 90% of entry-level workers even view it as an appealing benefit. Employers providing skills training can not only offer employees more diverse career opportunities and help retain talent, but also fill internal skill gaps more quickly. This enables employees to develop alongside the company's business, creating a win-win situation."
Thank you for reading our story! Please leave us a comment if you enjoy our content — take our 2023 Readers' Survey here.
Lead image / Shutterstock
share on
