The hiring sentiment in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will remain muted in the second quarter of 2021, as more employers are expected to cut their payrolls, according to a survey.
About 22 percent of employers intend to hire more employees, but 24 percent plan to downsize as part of retrenchment for the second quarter, sending the net employment outlook — the percentage of companies planning to increase manpower minus those planning to reduce it — to minus 2 percent, unchanged from the previous two quarters.
The wholesale and retail trade industries reported the weakest hiring sentiment, with a minus 4 percent net employment outlook
Workforce-services provider ManpowerGroup Greater China interviewed 136 HKSAR employers for the survey.
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The wholesale and retail trade industries reported the weakest hiring sentiment, with a minus 4 percent NEO. Employers in the mining and construction sectors were also reluctant to hire, with NEOs of minus 2 percent and minus 1 percent respectively. Bucking the trend were the finance, insurance and real estate sectors, with NEOs of 1 percent.
“Even with the city’s inoculation program underway, employers are still cautious about hiring new staff,” said Lancy Chui Yuk-shan, ManpowerGroup Greater China senior vice-president. Chui said she expects the business environment to remain challenging in the near term, especially in the retail sector, due to the halt of inbound tourism amid the pandemic.
Chui said she also expects the unemployment rate to remain high or rise further. “While the pace of hiring is expected to slow down this year, employers will freeze recruitment, especially the industries that are heavily impacted. The number of new job openings of traditional retail, travel and hospitality sector still remains low,” she said.
Employers forecast the harm to the job market done by the pandemic to be prolonged, the survey shows. Only 12 percent of the participants said they expect hiring to return to the pre-pandemic levels within half a year, while a quarter of them said they expect a comeback by the end of 2021. Ten percent of the employers said the job market will never return to pre-coronavirus levels.
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“The need for flexible staffing has risen across various industries. Businesses tend to adapt a more flexible approach, hiring more temporary or contract-based employees in preparation for the uncertainties in the economic recovery,” Chui said, adding that job hunters should keep an open mind and continue enhancing their work skills.
In the Asia Pacific region, the Taiwan region recorded the highest hiring sentiment with 25 percent NEO, followed by Singapore with 17 percent. The Chinese mainland reported a 5 percent NEO.
