Links International’s May Hong Kong Job Market Index
Links’ Hong Kong Job Index (JOB:IN) provides data-based analysis of the Hong Kong job market based on a number of data sources including Hong Kong Labour Department statistics, HK job posting numbers and response rates in respect of a ‘basket’ of common commercial job types in Hong Kong.
Jobs Postings Increase 19% in May, Rebounding from Lows
After the Hong Kong Job Market has its worst performing month of 2020 in April, May brought good news with job postings increasing 19%, indicating the start of a stronger recovery in the Hong Kong job market and increased positive business sentiment.
After a weak start in the first week of May, Links International’s Hong Kong Job Index showed a strong recovery with job postings increasing 9% during the second week (the strongest weekly growth in 2020) and an overall increase of 19% during the whole month of May.
The May recovery is welcome news given the 16% decrease in job postings in April and is largely driven by businesses again returning to in-office working arrangements in early May and improving Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong and APAC. Subject to further details being released in respect of the recently announced National Security Law, we remain cautiously optimistic that the Hong Kong job market will continue to improve during June and Q3.
Admin & HR Function Jobs See Exceptional 29% Growth!
2020 has been a rough year for anyone in Admin & HR with Admin & HR roles consistently being the least in demand job function. However, Admin & HR roles went from worst to the best performing function in May with the number of Admin & HR job postings increasing 29% from the start of the month, returning to similar levels last seen in March 2020.
All other job functions saw positive percentage growth in the fifth month of the year.
- Senior finance roles including Chief Financial Officers, FP&A Managers and Finance Directors all seeing solid growth
- Increased demand for Digital Marketing Managers continued its trajectory, showing a consecutive 6-week increase
- Sales, Customer Service & Business Development positions found their feet to return to comparable levels seen at the start of 2020
Unemployment Reaches 5.2% During February to April Period
As previously predicted unemployment continued to increase during the period between February and April. Total unemployment numbers reached 202,500 as an additional 40,300 Hong Konger’s lost their jobs, bringing the unemployment rate up another 1% month-on-month to 5.2%.
Although unemployment numbers have increased consistently during 2020 so far, we expect to see the increases in the rate of unemployment to slow down as job postings increase and hiring intentions are forecast to grow in later 2020.
Potential Uncertainty from the National Security Law & Injection of HK Government Incentives
After the announcement of the National Security Law, Hong Kong’s economic future is potentially sailing into further uncertainty. A number of businesses are waiting for further details on the new legislation to be released to understand whether their business environment will be impacted and confirm whether they continue to headquarter their Asia operations in Hong Kong as part of the deteriorating China / US relations.
HK’s Government is already working on implementing schemes to support businesses and workers. The Employment Support Scheme (ESS) and Distance Business Programme (D-Biz) are currently open for application and will likely have a good impact on the market when companies receive payments. You can learn more about the schemes by can help your business by contacting us now.
Need help with Hiring? If you are looking to recruit in Asia, or if you are interested to know more about the hiring trends in your industry, contact us now for a chat.
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Links International is an industry leader in innovative HR outsourcing with services such as payroll outsourcing, visa application, Employer of Record (EOR), recruitment and more! Contact us for more information on how we can help leverage your HR function.