Hong Kong’s restaurants remain undermanned: survey

Data from Deliveroo showed that six in 10 restaurants are still hiring.

Hiring remains a problem for most restaurants in Hong Kong, data from Deliveroo revealed.

Based on Deliveroo’s Restaurant Confidence Index, two-thirds (69%) of restaurants in the city are still hiring, whilst 86% said they still face difficulties when it comes to staff recruitment.

To improve recruitment, more than half of restaurants in the city (56%) offered a wage increase in Q2, with most (76%) adjusting wages by 2%-5%. Twelve per cent of restaurants increased wages by 5-10%, and some (5%) adjusted wages by more than 10%.

About half (41%) of restaurants believe support from delivery platforms can help alleviate their labour shortage problem.

Apart from helping address their staffing problem, restaurants said delivery platforms also help drive revenue, with 48% saying that these platforms contributed anywhere from 10% to 30% of their total revenue.

Nearly 20% even expressed that the platforms contributed almost a third of their revenue.
 
Looking ahead, two-thirds (69%) of restaurants expect an increase in revenues, or at least for revenue to remain unchanged this summer as Hong Kong welcomes the influx of tourists after the COVID pandemic.

Amongst those expecting revenue growth, almost half (44%) believe they will see an increase of 10%-20% in total revenue.