TAFEP Hero 2024 Oct
human resources online

HR roles will be in the highest demand in 2020

閱讀中文版本

Most industries in Hong Kong have faced a year of uncertainty in 2019, underpinned by political and social disruption. Business sentiment has turned pessimistic, when companies planning to increase their headcounts dropped from 38% in 2018 to 24% in 2019, and those expecting to freeze hiring rose from 24% to 35%, according to jobsDB's latest survey.

Among companies that will hire new staff, the most sought-after role is admin & HR (29%), followed by accounting (28%), marketing & branding (16%), corporate sales & business development (13%), other professional services (13%), general management (12%) and information technology (12%).

The main reasons for increasing headcount include business expansion (69%),  replacement of resigned staff (44%) and having new roles / new skillsets (39%).

“Currently, the social and market environments in Hong Kong are indeed unpredictable, with some major industries already experiencing a negative impact, yet still the demand for some job functions is growing," said Isaac Shao, CEO of jobsDB.

The five job functions with the highest year-over-year growth, in descending order, are management trainee, data scientist, asset management, sales support, and medical service technician.

Other key findings in the report:

  • About one in three local, Chinese-owned, or Hong Kong-based multinational companies are planning to hire, which doubles that of overseas-based multinational companies. 42% of them still have no plans to hire next year.
  • Employees can expect to receive an average pay rise of just 2.7% in 2020.
  • Nearly half of companies surveyed (47%) are pessimistic about the future job market, predicting that it will become quieter in the first quarter of 2020. Only 9% of respondents still believed the employment market will become more active in Q1 2020.
  • Nearly a quarter of employers (24%) in Hong Kong are promoting a 'work from home' policy. The vast majority of these companies (83%) allow employees to work from home when public transport is suspended, and 81% will take this measure during severe weather. Other circumstances for work from home include difficulty in commuting for other reasons (51%) and personal reasons (49%).

Follow us on Telegram and on Instagram @humanresourcesonline for all the latest HR and manpower news from around the region!

Related topics

Related articles

Free newsletter

Get the daily lowdown on Asia's top Human Resources stories.

We break down the big and messy topics of the day so you're updated on the most important developments in Asia's Human Resources development – for free.

subscribe now open in new window