Three out of four companies in Hong Kong are struggling to source talent for the first quarter of next year, despite a slight improvement in the availability of professionals, an employment outlook survey has found.

Tuesday’s report from ManpowerGroup Greater China also showed that some businesses in the city had resorted to offering higher wages to overcome their shortages, with workers expected to enjoy an average salary rise of 3.3 per cent in 2024.

The quarterly employment outlook survey covered more than 40,000 employers based in 41 countries and touched on topics such as short-term hiring priorities, talent shortages and human resources targets.

According to the latest poll, about 78 per cent of Hong Kong-based companies were struggling to locate talent as they head into next year, down from the 17-year high of 85 per cent earlier this year.

“The slight decrease in the talent shortage … suggests some improvement in the availability of skilled workers or the effectiveness of strategies deployed by companies to attract the necessary talent,” said Lancy Chui Yuk-shan, senior vice-president of the workforce solutions company.

“However, since the talent shortage in Hong Kong still exceeds the global average of 75 per cent, it indicates that the region continues to face significant challenges in this area.”

The 525 local companies interviewed for the survey ranked information technology and data, sustainability and engineering as among the top skills they had difficulty finding ahead of next year’s first quarter.

Hong Kong regains appeal among global talent amid demand in fintech, ESG

The report also found that 39 per cent of Hong Kong respondents had increased wages in a bid to offset their talent shortages, with a third also providing more flexible working arrangements for staff.

But the human resources company described Hong Kong’s overall hiring outlook as “stable”. It noted that about 44 per cent of employers were looking to hire for the first quarter of 2024, only 3 percentage points lower than the previous quarter, but matching the levels for the same period last year.

The report also assessed countries and territories by their “net employment outlook”, which is calculated by subtracting the number of companies looking to downsize from those looking to expand.

The data showed Hong Kong’s outlook stood at 29 per cent, on par with regional rival Singapore, 2 percentage points above the United Kingdom, but 6 percentage points below the United States.

Hong Kong talent office vows to scour globe to attract workers amid brain drain

“It signifies confidence in the resilience of the Hong Kong economy and its potential for further expansion,” ManpowerGroup’s Chui said.

Hong Kong’s leader John Lee Ka-chiu earlier rolled out an ambitious drive to “trawl for talent”, including the launch of the Top Talent Pass Scheme at the end of last year.

The city lost 210,000 workers between early 2019 and the end of 2022.

In October this year, Lee devoted part of his policy address to intensifying efforts to bring in more skilled workers, as well as unveiling plans to attract foreign companies to set up their main offices in Hong Kong and create a “headquarters economy”.

Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun Yuk-han in November said about 70,000 people came to the city under various talent schemes, double the government’s original target.