The text count of this book is 3861 words, and the estimated reading time is 6 minutes.
Introduction: With the rise of I&T policies in Hong Kong and the shortage of professional talents, the door to talent planning has been opened. How can a large number of highly talented people find high-paying jobs after going to Hong Kong?
1. New trends in Hong Kong's I&T
After Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee proposed "Finance in the South, Innovation and Technology in the North" in 2022, the Hong Kong government has introduced a number of measures to encourage I&T enterprises to land in Hong Kong and create a good I&T environment, and has achieved initial results. The relevant departments have negotiated with more than 200 companies, of which more than 25 heavyweight companies have taken root in Hong Kong, including many high-tech companies such as "Biqian Technology", "Yuanhua Intelligence", "Horizon" and "Multipoint". Technology and e-commerce giants such as Huawei, Meituan, and JD.com are also actively seeking development.
- In 2022, the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC) was launched, the first government-led investment company in Hong Kong.
- Released at the end of 2022, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint sets out a clear development direction for Hong Kong's I&T development in the next 5-10 years, and sets out the goal of "promoting Hong Kong's new industrialisation" on this basis.
- The first Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Expo, Digital Economy Summit and Hong Kong Web3 Carnival were held at the Exhibition Centre in mid-April 2023.
2. New momentum for I&T talents
In the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2023 released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in June 2023, Hong Kong remained firmly at the top of the rankings in terms of overall competitiveness, ranking seventh.
Image source IMD
In recent years, Hong Kong has been in dire need of a variety of talents with professional skills to cope with the problem of an ageing population. I&T talents are not only an important resource for building a new I&T ecosystem, but also a new driving force for breaking through the global technology competition. Mr Lee will deliver his second Policy Address in October this year, which is expected to elaborate on specific measures and recommendations for the introduction of innovative technology industries.
In line with the strategy of "grabbing enterprises", the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has formulated a detailed plan for "competing for talents", including the "High-end Talent Pass Scheme". The Scheme was first mentioned in the Policy Address in 2022 and a series of existing talent admission schemes have been further relaxed and enhanced. The application and approval procedures are also being progressively streamlined and streamlined.
- Faster vetting process: The revised Top Talent Pass Scheme, Mainland Talent Admission Scheme and General Employment Policy (GEP) normally take 4 to 6 weeks to complete the processing process.
- Simplified approval procedures: Starting from 1 January 2023, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme will remove the annual quota and simplify the application and approval procedures.
The Hong Kong government plans to attract at least 35,000 talents annually from 2023 to 2025 through various talent imports, and the talent list will be expanded from 13 to 51 in various fields such as innovation, healthcare, high-end technology, development and construction, environmental protection, finance, commerce, creativity, arts and performance, and maritime.
Source: Hong Kong Talent List
3. New opportunities for high-quality talents
In order to enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness in the international market, the Hong Kong Government has launched the Talent Admission Scheme (TAS) to attract high-skilled talents and industry talents to settle in Hong Kong. Since the introduction of this policy, it has attracted wide attention from all sectors of society, and the I&T industry has not only received strong support from the policy, but also related talents are well received by Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government is even more eager for professionals on the Talent List, so many mainland talents try to seek new employment opportunities in Hong Kong through the Talent Admission Scheme.
Most of the people admitted through the QMAS are concentrated in the two fields of financial and accounting services, information technology and telecommunications, and 7,022 people have been approved so far, of which 98% are mainlanders. As of the end of July this year, 40,000 applications had been submitted and 30,000 had been approved, with an approval rate of over 70%. So, how should highly talented talents who come to Hong Kong under the Talent Admission Scheme seize the opportunities?
1. Remuneration
Taking the IT industry as an example, according to the 2023 Salary Survey Report released by JobsDB, we can see that the average salary level of the IT industry (see the table below) will increase with the increase of seniority. The salary package of people with 5 years or more of work experience in the job market is a watershed.
At present, the industries with the largest talent gap in Hong Kong are finance and information technology, and the gap in the information technology industry is four times that of the financial industry. The massive talent shortage has also contributed to higher salaries in the IT industry. According to the 2023 Salary Survey Report, the three fastest promoted positions in the IT industry are: UX Designer, Advanced Analytics Programmer and Quality Assurance Analyst.
In addition, the rest of the positions such as network infrastructure engineers, network security engineers, and artificial intelligence engineers can increase their salaries by up to 15%. Technicians with certain work experience can get a monthly salary of more than 100,000 Hong Kong dollars, and management positions can even get an annual salary of millions. In the IT sector in 2023, positions with a monthly salary of more than HK$50,000 are mainly concentrated in managers, directors and other hard technical positions, such as IT engineers, system architects and consulting technology architects.
2023 Information Technology Industry Salary Package(≥$50000)
Source: JobsDB
2. Employment pathways
At present, the Hong Kong Immigration Bureau strictly prohibits the practice of "affiliation", so all persons entering Hong Kong through the "Talent Scheme" must strictly abide by the Immigration Department's visa renewal requirements, and obtain permanent residence status through formal and legal channels. Highly talented and talented people who come to Hong Kong through other talent schemes can stay in Hong Kong mainly through the following two ways: one is to stay and work in Hong Kong through a Hong Kong employer, mainly through submitting resumes or being introduced by headhunters; The second is self-employment, the main way is to set up a company in Hong Kong to operate the business, which is also a more secure employer choice.
- Depending on the type of job seeker, there are the following platforms for resume delivery:
(1) Fresh graduates: internal platform of Hong Kong universities, JIJIS
(2) White-collar workers: JobsDB, GLASSDOOR, Linkedln, cpjobs, Indeed, CTgoodjobs, and Toutiao.com
(3) Blue collar: Interactive Employment Service of the Labour Department of the Hong Kong Government, Hong Kong Good Workers Network, Good Workers Express (moovup), Recruit
(4) Job search for specific occupations: JUMP (education), efinancialcareers (finance), HotelsHR (Hong Kong hotel industry)
(5) Headhunting Consultant Platform: Michael Page, Robert Waletrs, Robert Half, Hays, Adecco
- Self-employed talents can choose to start a business and renew their employment by registering a company in Hong Kong and operating it in real time. It should be noted that activities such as company registration need to be planned in advance to avoid delaying the follow-up process, and professional companies are usually selected to achieve assistance.
IV. Conclusion
Hong Kong will continue to move towards an "international innovation and technology hub" by virtue of its multiple geographical advantages such as an international financial centre, a trade centre and a shipping centre, and Hong Kong's I&T development depends on synergy with the cities of the Greater Bay Area. This is not only a new opportunity for Hong Kong's I&T to take off, but also the best opportunity for mainland enterprises to take the "fast lane".