Job vacancies dropped by 50% in the first three quarters of Hong Kong, evaporating more than 500,000 workers, consultants expect layoffs

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Written by: Huang Yongyu

2020-10-29 18:10

Last update date: 2020-10-29 18:10

The new crown pneumonia epidemic has severely hit all walks of life. The Human Resources Management Society announced today (29th) that it found that the average salary increase for employees this year was 1.4%, a 10-year low, and the unemployment rate is expected to reach double digits.

It is understood that the Labour Department recorded only 500,000 vacancies in the private sector in the first three quarters of this year, a 51% drop from 1.02 million in the same period last year, evaporating about 500,000 jobs. Among them, wholesale, retail, and importers were hit hard by the epidemic. In the export trade, catering and hotel industries, the number of job vacancies has shrunk sharply, with vacancies decreasing by 72%.

Some manpower consultants said that in recent months, job vacancies have decreased by about 50%, and a wave of layoffs is expected by the end of the year.

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Tang Jiabiao, Director-General of Kowloon East of the Federation of Trade Unions and Labour Member of the LAB, revealed that the vacancy processing center of the Labour Department has always concentrated on processing vacancies submitted by employers in private organizations.

However, the latest prescription documents show that the number of vacancies in the private sector in the first three quarters of this year was about 500,000, a 51% drop from 1.02 million in the same period last year.

If broken down by industry, the wholesale, retail, import and export trade, catering and hotel industries recorded 483,000 vacancies last year. As of September this year, there were only 133,000 vacancies, a 72% drop.

In addition, the transportation, storage, and communications industries are also hardest hit areas. Last year it recorded 84,000, but this year it only received 25,000, a decline of 70%.

Deng Jiabiao believes that due to the impact of the epidemic, most economic activities are restricted. The unemployment rate is expected to rise above 7% in October. The government urgently needs to think about how to stimulate the economy, including clearing customs as soon as possible, speeding up infrastructure and creating jobs.

Deng Jiabiao expects the unemployment rate to rise above 7% in October.

(Data Picture/Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Personnel consultants will lay off staff after the completion of the job plan

Su Weizhong, general manager of Hezhong Personnel Consulting Co., Ltd., said that vacancies in different industries are mixed, coupled with the epidemic situation, many employers have slowed down recruitment plans.

He said that in industries such as hotels, tourism, and retail, recruitment was almost suspended. "Only layoffs will not be added." However, industries such as online sales, information technology, and healthcare are relatively stable.

Su also mentioned that the situation is expected to continue. "There will be no improvement before the new year. The end of the year itself is a low season. In the past, people would be invited to the festival, but Yijia almost stopped drying."

As for the unemployment rate, he believes that it will continue to rise in the short term. Cathay Pacific has recently announced layoffs and travel agencies have suspended salary retention plans. It is not surprising that the unemployment rate has surpassed the SARS high of 8.5%. , When December ends, I believe there will be no large-scale layoffs in the company." It is expected that the aviation and tourism industries will be the "hardest hit areas."

Senior human resource consultant Zhou Qiping.

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Senior human resources consultant Zhou Qiping said that since the epidemic this year, the number of job vacancies has begun to decline. It is believed that it is now down by half compared with the same period last year, but information technology, security, cleaning, etc. still have a slight increase.

She believes that half of employers decide to freeze their wages in the coming year, and the salary increase will be lower than this year's 1.4% level, "maybe a few tenths (percentage)."

She predicts that after the end of the job guarantee plan, there will be a wave of layoffs from December to February, but it is estimated that the unemployment rate may not rise to double digits.

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