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The Resurrection of Hong Kong

Posted on 17/03/2023 by Helen Corke

The feeling of optimism and excitement in Hong Kong right now is palpable.  It's not until you are through an experience, that you are able to truly appreciate it for what it was. It’s with a deep sense of relief, gratitude, and a renewed perspective, on everything really, that we embrace the future that lies ahead in our mask-free lives. 

In terms of a market update, the repercussions of the last few years are still being felt in various ways. Many brave new directions are being paved by those who were disenchanted with their previous career choices, and then there are those who finally found the courage to take a leap of faith into something more purposeful and passion led. As a result of all the movements, there is always going to be a bounce and demand for quality talent. Those businesses who slimmed down their administrational support during the years with less travel are now rehiring urgently, and we have seen a healthy upturn in activity across the region,with companies hiring back their administrative staff to full capacity.  Salaries have stayed relatively steady in Hong Kong, with a slight increase, but in Singapore we have seen a more dramatic uplift in the average salary.  

We are still seeing the full impact of the pandemic response here in Hong Kong, and companies who understandably decided to leverage risk and set up in Singapore, or beyond, have stuck firm to their plans with some leaving HK for good. On a positive note, we are also seeing a return of several families and firms who have decided to come back - perhaps the grass is not always greener after all.  Phew!  

The resurrection of HK as a global, fully operational city is official. It’s better late than never, and we are welcoming back with open arms old friends, new friends, and maximising on the hope and reality of once again being a leading city in Asia.

On a personal note, we have welcomed another fantastic consultant to our growing team, Wilfred Yu, who has joined us to focus on the legal sector, as well as adding support to our Chinese clients. 

For our clients, we have decided to send you a quarterly, sector specific newsletter that anonymously highlights some of our star candidates to keep everyone up to date on the newest and best talents in the market. 

On the candidate front, we are planning a 'Wine Club' evening, made up of a rotating committee of Hong Kong’s best EA’s and Office Managers who will be helping answer questions and help with any topical issues that we collectively feel could be useful to the community.  We will be inviting all candidates to participate by sending us topics and questions which we will aim to answer and discuss through those meetings on a quarterly basis. 

We do hope that the additional activities will help keep both our clients and candidates fully informed with the latest market updates, in the most relevant and modern way.  

We look forward to seeing many of you in person, with masks off, very soon. You can get in touch with me on LinkedIn or at hc@charlottefrank.com

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