Hong Kong is seeing positive signs of a pick-up after two consecutive quarters of economic contraction this year, with improved sentiment in the real estate and stocks markets, and unemployment at about 5 per cent.
But companies are still cautious about recruitment and are being extra selective in their talent search.
Figures from the latest South China Morning Post/admanGo survey (see graph), which tracks job vacancies advertised in six major recruitment publications in Hong Kong, revealed that although the total number of jobs posted for the second quarter decreased by 70 per cent year-on-year, it edged up 2.5 per cent at 24,094 compared with the first quarter of this year.
From a quarterly perspective, an overall increase in positions in the local job market was recorded in the second quarter in major sectors including manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, financial and investment, and professional services such as accounting and legal.
'Economic data is getting better than the market expected. The local economy may expand in quarterly terms but, in annual terms, we still have a low output and an overall annual contraction,' said Frederic Neumann, a senior economist at HSBC.
He warned, though, that potential external factors, such as high oil and commodity prices, and reduced demand in western countries might cause a drag on local consumption and affect the employment rate for the rest of the year.