HK workers see 3.8pc pay rise - but GBA counterparts get more

Employees in Hong Kong saw their pay rise 3.8 percent on average this year and expect an increase of 4.1 percent next year, though both are lower than those in other major cities in the Greater Bay Area, a survey has found.

The survey, jointly conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management and HR services provider China International Intellectech, interviewed 209 local firms and 131,350 employees in 12 industries in the first three quarters of the year. It also polled 384 companies and 155,904 staff over 10 industries in nine mainland cities in the GBA during the same period.

The results showed that employees in nine cities of the GBA enjoyed a 5.5 percent pay rise on average in 2023, 1.7 percentage points higher than that in Hong Kong.

Looking ahead, employees there anticipate a 5.4 percent salary boost for 2024, which is also 1.3 percentage points higher compared to that in the SAR.

On the employers' side, it showed 98.6 percent of local firms offered a pay increase and 62 percent of them forecast a pay rise next year. In GBA cities, 71 percent of companies said they offered a pay rise this year, with 28 percent of them estimating to offer a salary hike in 2024.

Medical and healthcare as well as logistics and transportation both saw the highest adjustments of 4.3 percent in annual base pay.

On guaranteed bonus payments in Hong Kong this year, 41.8 percent of companies indicated they had guaranteed bonus schemes for staff. However, the average size of the guaranteed bonus was 1.04 months of base pay, slightly lower than the level of 1.09 months in the previous year.

Lawrence Hung Yu-yun, president of HKIHRM, believes that the business atmosphere has become more cautious due to the impact of the global economy, adding that the talent shortage still remains critical in the SAR.

Meanwhile, a separate survey by local recruitment platform CTgoodjobs revealed that Hong Kong's fresh graduates expected a monthly salary of nearly HK$25,000 on average, about HK$7,500 higher than the amount local employers are willing to pay.

The average expected monthly salary for graduates is HK$24,838, a 20 percent jump compared to last year. However, the employers' willingness to offer salaries stood at an average of HK$17,293 per month, a modest 5 percent rise from the previous year.

CTgoodjobs surveyed 449 graduates from 11 local universities and tertiary institutions and 217 local employers from 23 industries via online questionnaires in the third quarter of this year.

It found that the government has become the most popular employer among graduates, accounting for 8.5 percent, followed by Google at 6 percent, HSBC at 3.1 percent and Apple at 2.9 percent.