Fresh graduates feel squeeze as wages drop for second year

Maisy Mok

Fresh graduates this year receive an average monthly salary of HK$16,077 - 3.7 percent lower than last year's average - according to JobsDB's annual survey.

Their average salaries dropped for the second year - from HK$16,892 in 2018 to HK$16,692 in 2019 - according to the survey of 1,197 undergraduates and fresh graduates between August and October this year .

The medical and pharmaceutical industry still had the highest average starting salaries with HK$20,050.

But the most ideal sector remained "government and public organization" - as voted by 14 percent of respondents - despite a slight drop of 2 percentage points compared to last year.

Just a little more than half of the respondents, 53 percent, felt optimistic about their career in the future. This marked a significant 20 percent drop from 2019.

The rest - 46 percent said they were pessimistic due to factors including competition within the industry, individual capabilities and market demand.

A majority, 87.7 percent, said the pandemic had affected their job-hunting plans as there were fewer vacancies and competition had increased.

"They can highlight their knowledge in digital technologies to bolster their employability as enterprises are rapidly speeding up their digital transformation to sharpen their competitiveness under the pandemic situation," said Isaac Shao Kwan-shek, chief executive of JobsDB Hong Kong.

The survey found that more students were dissatisfied with their first job compared to last year. And the main factor was "salary and benefits," according to 30 percent of respondents.

Lack of "career development and on-the-job training" (15 percent) and "alignment with one's personal interests" (11 percent) also contributed to their dissatisfaction.

"Employers are suggested to spare more resources on things such as employee training or digital transformation," Shao said.

Seven out of 10 fresh graduates think Hong Kong is an ideal place to work despite the economic impact on the employment environment.

Eight percent also found Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and those in Southeast Asia to be ideal locations, due to the youngsters' emigration plans, their love for foreign culture and economic prospects in specific fields.

Still on youngsters, the Hong Kong Jockey Club launched a talent matching and development initiative for 2018-19 and 2019-20 graduates who are seeking jobs. The scheme called PROcruit C involves 12 kinds of professions in the areas of creativity, technology, business and health care for graduates. Those professions include creative researcher, product marketing trainee and health coach trainee.

With approved funding of HK$52.26 million, the initiative will collaborate with more than 100 employers to create 400 trainee positions for degree or sub-degree first-time jobseekers.

There are three rounds of application periods from December to March.

maisy.mok@singtaonewscorp.com