Employees want 6pc raise to give up hybrid working

Hong Kong workers say they would need a 6 percent raise to give up hybrid work arrangements, a dilemma that’s expected to prompt more companies to reduce space and dampen office rents, according to a survey.  

More than half of respondents said they would either ask for a raise or switch jobs to secure flexible work arrangements if their employers required them to work in the office five days a week, based on a survey of 350 people in the city carried out by Bloomberg Intelligence. 

Companies may adopt hybrid working arrangements to attract talent while cutting floor space, which could lead to rents falling by at least 6 percent in 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts led by Patrick Wong said in a note published Monday.  

That’s after rents dropped at a similar pace annually over the past three years, Bloomberg Intelligence said. The city saw a record 16.4 percent of empty office space at the end of last year, according to CBRE Group Inc.  

To make things worse, the office sector has seen little demand from mainland companies, which contributed to the previous rental surge a few years ago. Such firms accounted for just 11 percent of new leases in 2023, compared with 18 percent in 2021, data from CBRE show. 

In the survey, 27 percent asked for a raise — the majority demanding a pay increase of 6 percent or more — if their employers required them to work in the office five days a week. Another 24 percent said they would change jobs to secure flexible work arrangements. 

The 350 respondents were selected using criteria specified by Bloomberg Intelligence to reflect a representative sample for age, geography and gender.

(Bloomberg)