Hong Kong salaries grew 5.1% in 2019

Jobs in public relations, digital marketing and insurance saw the highest pay hikes.

Salaries in Hong Kong continue to rise but at a slower rate as it grew 5.1% in 2019 as compared to the 5.7% increase in 2018, according to a jobsDB survey.

It also revealed that in terms of job specialisation, public relations/corporate affairs, digital marketing/e-commerce/social media and insurance have seen the highest pay increases.

The pay surge in the public relations/corporate affairs sector was thanks to the prevalence of social media that requires a diverse set of skills.

“Insurance practitioners are benefiting from the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme and the growing premiums spent by mainlanders on insurance policies in Hong Kong,” said Isaac Shao, country manager of jobsDB Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the average size of bonuses in 2019 was 1.5 months of basic salary, a decline from the average 1.6 months in 2018. The largest bonus size was recorded in the hospitality/tourism sector (2.2 months), followed by banking & finance (2.1 months), food & beverage and general management (1.9 months).

The survey also found out that 30% of employees have changed their jobs in the past 12 months, with 50% of them citing “discontent with company culture/management style,” whilst 49% surveyed “too much workload/pressure.”

In addition, over half (54%) of those who resigned from their previous jobs before securing a new job said they couldn’t stand their previous jobs, followed by “confidence in getting a new job soon” (34%), “planned a vacation between two jobs” (29%), and “no financial burden and thus no urgency to get a new job” (23%).