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Hong Kong economy
OpinionComment
John C. Tsang
John C. Tsang

Opinion | Singapore has its own talent development policy. It’s high time Hong Kong had something similar

  • Amid a global talent shortage, Hong Kong must find a way to address a manpower crunch caused by changing skill demands in a post-pandemic economy
  • In this way, everyone can play a part in ensuring the sustainable and inclusive development of our society

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Illustration: Craig Stephens
John C. Tsang
Global talent shortages have reached an all-time high, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most developed economies with ageing populations already suffer from a shrinking workforce, while millennial and Gen Z workers have different career goals and aspirations.
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The pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation, leaving organisations struggling to build information technology capability, and more people – not just the younger generation – reassessing the meaning of work and life.

In Hong Kong, the talent crunch is more pronounced due to other factors. According to JobsDB’s Hiring, Compensation & Benefits Report 2023, 68 per cent of companies surveyed feel recruitment has been harder in the past 12 months than the last five years. Employers report difficulties in finding people with the right experience and skills in almost all industries and at all levels, from financial services and marketing to engineering and merchandising.

On the employee side, the JobsDB Jobseeker Salary Report 2022 found 61 per cent of respondents concerned about post-pandemic changes in the job market, but only 27 per cent thought they needed to acquire a new skill to adapt to the digital transformation.

Employers in Hong Kong generally respond to the talent crunch by offering better pay and benefits, a more employee-friendly work environment and, increasingly, recruiting from overseas. Yet these may not address a talent shortage brought about by changing skill demands in a post-pandemic economy.
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A more effective strategy requires organisations to equip their employees, at scale, with new skills. In a reflection of the global adjustment, nearly half of the learning and development professionals surveyed in LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report expect their companies to give them bigger budgets to spend, a six-year-high globally and in the Asia-Pacific.

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