There is renewed optimism for contractors in Hong Kong, with the majority securing long-term contracts. The market analysis, from the latest Contract Job Trend Data from Morgan McKinley, which compares contract duration, extensions and salary for Hong Kong based contractors across a range of disciplines found that over half of contractors were being employed on one-year contracts in 2014, compared to under a third in 2013. In contrast, around half of contractors in 2013 were employed for only 3 to 6 months.
It’s not just good news for contract length in Hong Kong. The data showed a 4% increase in contractors being offered extensions, and a 6% increase in being offered permanent roles in 2014 compared to 2013.
Salaries remained steady for Hong Kong’s contractors with marginal differences from 2013 to 2014. However, 20% of contractors are earning more than 60,000 HKD per month in 2014, which is 7% higher compared to 2013.
Nick Lambe, Managing Director, Morgan McKinley Hong Kong commented, “Our latest statistics clearly show that the tide is turning as we are seeing more and more contractors viewed as essential workforce for seasonal variations or maternity cover for niche skill sets. We’ve also noticed that organisations are increasing salaries and benefits to make the propositions more attractive to contractors. The increasing number of higher paid contractors in 2014 can be attributed to more specialist projects and/or skill sets being in demand in the market and thus the more experienced and higher salaried candidates being sought by employers.”
“In terms of an outlook for 2015, we predict that the hiring of IT, Finance, Operations, Projects, HR and Office Support contractors will continue to increase. In addition, experienced Hong Kong professionals who find themselves job seeking in 2015 should consider the contracting route as we are seeing the majority of contract placements being offered permanent roles by their employer when their assignment is complete.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
