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The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) warns that the current demand for talent here is expected to continue to outstrip supply, and that the future global competition for skilled professionals is only likely to intensify further. Moreover, rapid development in the Mainland, especially the Pearl River Delta, and Asia is expected to exacerbate the talent shortage in Hong Kong.
To alleviate the shortage, Hong Kong must attract a deeper pool of international and regional talent by adopting a more liberal immigration policy, and at the same time making our workforce more internationally and regionally astute to ensure they can meet the challenges in today’s globalized business environment.
This is the conclusion of the Second CEO Manpower Conference entitled "Hong Kong's Human Capital: Strategic Challenges, Practical Solutions," organized by HKGCC on May 30, which was attended by over 100 CEOs and HR professionals.
Steve Tait, Chairman of HKGCC’s Manpower Committee, said the findings of a pre-conference questionnaire showed employers are facing a talent crunch. Some 63% of respondents said they faced difficulties in hiring suitable talent, specifically, employees with good English and Putonghua skills, professional skills (management skills, communication and interpersonal skills, marketing experience) and a good working attitude (sense of responsibility, loyalty and commitment, integrity).
"The shortage of local talent equipped with these skills is constraining Hong Kong's competitiveness and it is undermining our position as the region’s leader,” Dr Lily Chiang, Chairman of HKGCC said. “We are not alone in this battle for talent. Economies around the world are all competing to win the global war for talent. Therefore, we have to do more to market Hong Kong as an attractive place for talent from around the world to come here and work.”
"It is a longstanding concern of the business sector that the language ability of Hong Kong graduates has been on the decline. Ensuring students are proficient in English and Putonghua is essential for our competitiveness if we are to function effectively in today’s international arena," she added.
Betty Fung, Deputy Secretary for Education & Manpower, Education & Manpower Bureau, said at the conference that the government will spend HK$56.5 billion on education annually, making education the largest single recurring government expenditure. While HKGCC welcomes the government’s commitment that education is an investment in Hong Kong’s future, in addition to language skills, another important asset that Hong Kong employees seem to lack is an international and regional perspective of the business world.
To ensure education and training policies achieve the desired results, participants at the conference stressed that more emphasis must be placed on measuring output (quality of students, skills, etc), rather than just calculating the input (public funds poured into education).
Professor Richard Wong, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, The University of Hong Kong, explained during his presentation that the value proposition of workers in the 10th percentile of wages has been declining since the 1970s, while the 90th percentile has been steadily climbing.
“The proportion of knowledge workers has grown by 40% over 60 years in the U.S., so their skills now command a high premium,” he said. “For Hong Kong, education alone will not solve the problem. We have to attract people from overseas, which could be achieved by gradually relaxing the openness of our borders to allow a natural flow of talent.”
HKGCC CEO Alex Fong said that although the issues raised at the conference were very wide ranging, “they can be summarized under a ‘3-3-3’ conceptual framework, namely tri-lingual (English, Putonghua and a third language), tri-cultural (local, Mainland and another culture), and tripartite cooperation (the business sector, government and educational institutions) to ensure we attract and develop the talent we need.”
Some of the shortcomings of our local talent pool can partially be addressed through refining the education system, but participants stressed this is something that government alone cannot solve. The business sector also has a responsibility to provide training and exposure for staff.
The cost of employing high caliber employees in Hong Kong is often cited as being very high, but speakers at the conference stressed that bright professionals are not always attracted solely by remuneration. Potential employees are usually drawn to a company by its business culture, and living environment.
“SMEs, who form the backbone of the business sector in Hong Kong, should use this knowledge to attract talent by marketing their companies’ culture, in addition to the significant contribution and fulfillment employees can get from working at their company. In sum, companies trying to attract talent need to stress the whole employment proposition, not just remuneration to woo employees,” Brian Renwick, moderator of the ‘People Management Strategies + Case Studies’ panel, explained.
In addition, instead of seeing the Mainland as a threat that is siphoning off talent from Hong Kong, companies should also see it as a potentially huge talent pool. The HKSAR Government has set up the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme to make it easier for companies to hire Mainland talent. Participants at the conference, however, felt that companies are not making full use of this scheme -- out of an initial quota of 1,000, less than 200 people have been recruited under the scheme.
“If Hong Kong cannot attract enough talent to fuel companies’ growth, businesses could be forced to go where talent is available. If this scenario comes true, it could create a downward spiral that would intensify and weaken Hong Kong’s competitiveness and attraction to talent,” Ronnie Chan, Chairman, Hang Lung Group Ltd, stressed during the luncheon talk at the conference.
“Hong Kong cannot afford to sit back and see how this global battle for talent plays out, because if we do, we will be left on the sidelines. Government and especially companies need to be going out and aggressively marketing Hong Kong as a fabulous place to live and work if we are going to recruit the talent that we need.”
This is a very important issue which needs urgent, results-oriented action.
“We plan to distil the discussions from the conference to compile a report that we hope the government can act on to ensure Hong Kong continues to thrive in today’s globalized business environment,” Mr Fong concluded.
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For further information, contact Alex Fong, CEO, HKGCC, at 2823-1211.