Hong Kong’s banks and financial services companies are facing increasing competition from foreign markets in their efforts to recruit professionals amidst the current skills shortage. According to an independent survey from Robert Half, three in four Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are experiencing increased competition from overseas markets when trying to attract skilled candidates.
- 75% of Hong Kong CFOs face increasing competition from foreign markets when attracting skilled professionals due to the current skills shortage,
- 71% are sourcing up to 10% of their workforce from foreign markets,
- 20% anticipate they will recruit overseas talent from the United States and Canada,
- 75% say the skills shortage is having a negative impact on their company’s departmental workloads, 69% cite negative impacts on their company’s revenue and productivity.
In terms of the scope of demand for skilled professionals sourced from overseas, more than two thirds of CFOs said they intend to source up to 10% of their workforce from foreign markets, with one in five anticipating they will be recruiting the most overseas talent from the United States and Canada.
Adam Johnston, Managing Director at Robert Half Hong Kong said, “High calibre financial services professionals are increasingly embracing global career opportunities. As a consequence, companies are under pressure to compete with foreign markets in order to attract and retain the best talent.”
Johnston added, “Demand is especially strong for professionals with niche skills, particularly in compliance, security and risk management. The resulting skills shortage has further highlighted that Hong Kong are competing on a regional and even international scale to attract suitably skilled and qualified professionals, and recruitment methods should be adapted accordingly.”
Johnston concluded, “Adopting flexible staffing arrangements such as hiring interim mangers with the necessary skills and experience to manage immediate projects is another cost-effective and highly productive option for Hong Kong businesses to navigate a talent shortfall. A longer term solution is to invest in the training and professional development of existing staff, which often delivered the additional benefit of improving staff retention.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
