More than one in four employees in Hong Kong face 30% pay cut

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The coronavirus continues to put the world on hold, affecting the quality of life and working habits of employees locally and across the globe. JobsDB's latest survey has revealed that one in six employees in Hong Kong have been temporarily or permanently retrenched, while more than one in four employees have faced salary reductions of over 30% as a direct result of the pandemic.

Of these, employees engaged in the food & beverage, tourism, and advertising and marketing sectors have been most affected, with 18% of respondents facing temporary or permanent retrenchment.

A total of 28% have faced salary reductions of 30% or more. Additionally, close to half of respondents (48%) have been negatively impacted in terms of remuneration such as reduced or suspended bonuses, suspension of salary increases and/or a salary freeze.

The most common concern among employees is job security (49%), followed closely by apprehensions over personal and family finances (45%). A total of 32% of respondents miss face-to-face communications with colleagues and customers, alongside the energy and spontaneity of office life.

Corporate recruiters are becoming increasing cautious in their approach to job recruitment. According to the survey, 27% of organisations are expecting to launch post-pandemic recruitment plans in the next six to twelve months. While 35% are uncertain about resuming recruitment at this stage.

In the coming six months, jobs in sales, customer services and business development (28%) will be in higher demand, followed by jobs in administration and human resources (20%), accounting (17%), as well as marketing and public relations (17%).

Almost two-thirds of available positions will be junior or entry-level jobs, alleviating the pressures of employment faced by 2020 graduates and other career starters.

Moreover, 81% of recruiters have stated that they will not factor pandemic-related retrenchments in their future assessment of candidates, while 14% have even revealed that they are more likely to hire job seekers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19.