Hong Kong continues to woo foreign talent with first-ever global summit
As of end-April, nearly 180,000 applications under the city’s various talent entry schemes had been approved since their launch in late 2022.
Hong Kong’s first-ever Global Talent Summit was held on Tuesday (May 7) and Wednesday.
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HONG KONG: More than 3,000 participants attended Hong Kong’s first-ever Global Talent Summit on Tuesday (May 7), as the city seeks to woo talent from Europe and Southeast Asia.
Organisers expect about 7,000 attendees over the two-day summit, which is being held alongside the Career Connect Expo, a job fair featuring nearly 100 exhibitors.
The city’s pitch to potential expats is its link to China.
"Hong Kong is the only place in the world where the global advantage and China advantage come together in a single city. We have the foundation well in place to succeed,” said the city’s chief executive John Lee during his opening speech at the summit.
The foundation refers to free flow of information, a common law system and an internationalised market.
Hong Kong has fewer visa restrictions compared to other Asian economies. It has pushed out incentives like stamp duty waivers, and allowed talent to enter Hong Kong without having to secure a job first, in a bid to drum up its appeal.
Mr Lee shared that as of end-April, nearly 180,000 applications under Hong Kong’s various talent entry schemes have been approved since their launch in late 2022. More than 120,000 successful applicants have already arrived in the city.
HONG KONG ADVANTAGES
Jobseeker Lois Lin from Jiangsu province in China, who was at the summit to look for work in the financial and consulting sectors, said she pursued her master’s degree in Hong Kong without realising the advantages of being in the city.
“I soon realised the advantages of residing in a city that serves as a bridge between the mainland and the world. Hong Kong rolls out different talent schemes which makes it easier for mainlanders like me to secure the right to work,” Ms Lin added.
Despite a perception that Chinese living in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay area may want to work in Hong Kong due to the proximity, those from the middle of China are also venturing out, said managing partner of recruitment services firm Leapin Gabriel Cheung.
“From the data, surprisingly, in the last 12 months, we see more and more talents from top cities in the middle of China, like in Shanghai or Beijing. They are applying for more jobs in Hong Kong,” Mr Cheung said.
As of Monday, Chinese residents who hold exit endorsements for business travel to Hong Kong are allowed to stay up to 14 days, up from the previous seven. The scheme, which was initially implemented for residents in the nine Greater Bay Area cities, such as Shenzhen and Dongguan, has also been expanded to Beijing and Shanghai.
It is a move that Hong Kong says reflects the advantage of its one country, two systems principle, and fosters greater exchanges.
GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY AND BARRIERS
However, global uncertainty in some sectors has also impacted Hong Kong’s bid to attract talent.
Despite seeing more applications stream in, recruitment platforms said those for financial services are not as high as before, given market uncertainties.
“There needs to be a little bit more repair in that industry first, and then by the time that's done and those roles are back open again, I think that those roles will be really well sought after,” said Mr Richard Pugh, sales director of staffing at eFinancialCareers.
Still, Mr Pugh noted that Chinese workers who left Hong Kong’s finance sector during the pandemic years are vying to return.
However, for some considering a job in the city, certain barriers remain.
“It's kind of difficult and tricky because of the language barrier to get jobs in core engineering roles,” said jobseeker Virag S Raut from India, who was at the summit.
“Of course the finance sector is awash, the services sector is awash with a lot of expats coming in from different parts of the world. But when it comes to core engineering, there's a certain amount of resistance that the expats have to face.”
