Hong Kong beats Singapore in employment performance survey

Jobs in Hong Kong were up 78% and number of job seekers rose 56% YoY.

Hong Kong zooms past regional peers in the Asia Pacific as it posts the largest increase in jobs (36% QoQ) and job seekers (47% QoQ) for the last quarter of 2017, according to Morgan McKinley APAC Employment Monitor.

In terms of annual performance, the number of jobs soared 78% whilst the number of job seekers increased 56% YoY in Q4.

“The rapidly growing influence of China on Hong Kong’s financial services market has been a boon for the island’s banking and financial services sector,” said Morgan McKinley Asia Pacific COO Richie Holliday.

Chinese financial services companies are projected to snap up greater market share and physical business locations in Hong Kong as Holliday notes that the cultural shift in the region’s business landscape is bound to bring a wealth of employment opportunities.

“2018 is looking to be a headliner year for Hong Kong on the financial services hiring front,” said Holliday.

Hong Kong’s top rival Singapore closed the year poorly as the numbers of jobs and jobseekers fell 20% and 37% QoQ respectively.

In Mainland China, the number of jobs rose 43% whilst candidates looking for jobs went down 43%. Morgan McKinley attributes the decline in job seekers to the thirteenth month bonus tradition which it hails as an effective staff retention incentive. The company thus expects little to no movement in the number of job seekers until later on in the first quarter of the year.

Japan also posted lower employment and talent pool levels in Q4 with 17% and 26% respective QoQ decreases.

However, despite varying figures across countries, 2017 was a strong employment year for APAC’s financial services sector as it provides a great springboard for the year ahead.