Almost half of businesses surveyed in HK offer meal subsidy to employees

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After the pandemic struck Hong Kong and continues to drag on, it's no secret that most companies' previous plans to boost employee engagement have gone out the window as most of them are dependent on face-to-face interaction.

With employee engagement and wellness becoming a priority for HR, recent research shows that some of the companies in Hong Kong turned to food as a pandemic perk, with 45% of businesses surveyed reporting they have offered a meal subsidy for employees amid the pandemic. 

Surveying about 100 businesses in Hong Kong with a headcount of more than 10,000 employees, Deliveroo's report revealed that close to half (47%) of businesses ordered lunch for employees. One third (34%) offered snacks and desserts, and 29% had provided free fruit at work. Of those that offer a meal subsidy, 35% of them reported limiting the delivery location to office-only, and only 10% allow employees to freely select their delivery location. 

Among the takeaways ordered by the office, Chinese cuisine (71%) is the most popular, followed by Western (65%) and Japanese (57%). Nearly two in five businesses surveyed (38%) had ordered salad for their employees. More importantly, about three in four employers are willing to listen to employees and pick a restaurant based on their preference. 

With the majority of respondents adopt some sort of remote working arrangement in the past year, over half of them said they plan to continue this working model in the future. Since the outbreak, a third of the businesses said they have not organised any kind of virtual socialising events, even though half of them have indicated interest in hosting events.