An IT professional with a master’s degree and a decade of experience posted on social media on Monday, saying he has surrendered to the job market after 11 months of unemployment, registering to deliver food and enrolling in a security guard training course.
“There’s always a way out. If I can't even work as a security guard, I’ll get a taxi license,” the original poster wrote in the post, attaching a photo of his master of science in computer science certificate from the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
The poster added in the comment section that he also studied computer science during his undergraduate years.
However, in the face of the current situation, this hard-won certificate from HKU seems particularly powerless. He joked that it was “just a life achievement.”
According to the poster’s account, pressure and office bullying drove him to quit his last job as a solution architect.
The first few weeks were a honeymoon period of sleeping in and doing as he pleased, he said. But after submitting hundreds of resumes without a single offer, he fell into anxiety and self-doubt, spending days refreshing job boards and staring at his phone.
“I’d rather go back to that toxic workplace than aimlessly do nothing,” he wrote, warning fellow Hong Kong workers, “I sincerely advise Hong Kong workers that this year, please, please, please don't quit your job without a new one lined up, and don't change jobs randomly. The market is brutal.”
Besides the uncertain market, the poster also wrote about his experience of being treated dismissively in interviews, with human resources staff questioning his pay expectations regardless of the figure he named.
Now, the poster said, he has signed up for food delivery, noting that a diligent rider could earn up to HK$50,000 a month. He signs up for a security guard certificate course, adding that he has also registered for the construction industry safety card and will sit for a taxi license exam if needed.
The post drew thousands of comments, with some users sharing similar stories of partners who own advanced IT degrees but have also been laid off and recently obtained taxi licenses.
One netizen said: “soon every taxi driver on the street will be an IT master’s graduate.”
Others questioned his narrative, arguing that a decade of experience should still land a desk job. The original poster replied, saying clerical positions rejected him as overqualified and accused him of wasting their time.
This story also sparked debate over Hong Kong’s Information Technology (IT) sector outlook, with some netizens blaming artificial intelligence and offshoring for the downturn, while industry insiders suggested pivoting to cybersecurity, project management, IT positions in universities and public institutions, or government contract roles.
Official data underscores the trend. A Legislative Council Secretariat report released in May showed university graduate job vacancies hit a five-year low, with information and communications sector (including IT) openings plunging 76.7 percent.
The report pointed out that youth unemployment in the AI-affected information and communications sector stood at 6.9 percent, compared with the industry’s overall rate of 4.2 percent.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han acknowledged in the LegCo Council meeting in May that AI has begun to affect entry-level job demand.
Referring to the Joint Institutions Job Information System (Jijis), full-time positions suitable for university graduates fell from about 80,000 in 2022 to roughly 31,000 last year, with administrative and IT/programming entry-level roles dropping nearly 90 and 80 percent.
The government is analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on the overall labor market in Hong Kong and jobs in different industries.
The results will be included in the mid-term update of manpower projections and are expected to be announced in the fourth quarter of this year, Sun added.
