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As one of the world’s most prominent financial centres, Hong Kong’s banking industry is consistently volatile. But now, as Mainland China embarks on two major projects, Hong Kong is about to see its influence increase dramatically. As this happens, candidates working within the banking sector, aware of their importance to this growth, are pushing companies for improved salaries in a turbulent recruitment environment.
The areas with the greatest candidate demands are as follows:
- Retail banking – Front office
- Relationship Managers (Corporate and Financial Institute)
- Compliance and Risk
Perhaps the most dramatic project is the Belt and Road initiative, a modern day ‘Silk Road’ connecting Mainland China with numerous countries throughout the ASEAN path, South East Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Middle East. According to Dean Stallard, Managing Director at Hays in Greater Bay Area , this is a project that will drive a great deal of recruitment in the area, as it becomes the centre for financial backing and legal arbitration.
“Everyone is talking about Belt and Road, but until very recently not many people have really understood what form it would take. At the end of last year companies were making enquiries, though they were unsure what kind of candidate they required. However, in the last few months, as the initiative has become more concrete, they are increasingly specific, looking for individuals with connections to Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka; countries that will see fervent activity as the project comes closer to fruition.”
Closer to home, another major driver for recruitment is the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). This cluster of 11 major cities, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou and of course Hong Kong, has a combined financial might of areas such as Greater New York, San Francisco Bay and Greater Tokyo, and Mainland China plans to utilise Hong Kong as the financial centrepiece of the entire project.
“The Greater Bay Area is an ambitious initiative at which Hong Kong will be the financial heart. This means that there will be an increase in demand for front office bankers with relevant exposure, such as Relationship Managers with connections to PRD corporates or Hong Kong Corporates in the GBA,” Dean says.
“There is also an increase in the search for credit risk approvers, and right now everyone is fighting for these talents due to the business increase in these areas.” says Wisely Wong, Manager at Hays Hong Kong.
Due to this dramatic increase in activity, coupled with the continuation of the sky-high demand for retail banking Financial Institution Relationship Managers, and the necessity for compliance experts to deal with the ever-evolving Basel III regulations, candidates understand the clamour that surrounds them and are thus demanding salaries that reflect this.
“We are seeing candidates attempting to take advantage of their position and being aggressive in their salary demands, pushing for 30 per cent increases,” Wisely explains. “However, companies, acting under financial restraints, can offer only around 18 per cent. In these situations it is down to us as recruiters to manage these expectations in order to come to a resolution that satisfies both parties.”
Firms looking to bridge this difference in expectations are instead seeking ways of seducing clients with non-monetary benefits and are being both innovative and competitive in their actions.
“Companies are working hard on improving their brand awareness, and we are seeing an upswing in the use of digital advertising,” Wisely notes. “But one big change that we have witnessed in recent months is in companies are curating events, not for job seekers, but for recruiters, holding functions for recruitment agencies and presenting the virtues of the organisation that they expect will be passed on to candidates.”
While Hong Kong’s banking industry has always been particularly active, the coming year is expected to become increasingly volatile, meaning that candidates will find 2019 a time to improve their employment situation, and companies will have to act fast to capture the talent that they require.
“Candidates are in short supply all across the industry. For lack of a better word, things are crazy right now. And it’s only going to get crazier.”
An overview of what other trends have been observed in Hong Kong’s banking sector can be viewed below.
- Due to the shortage in the candidate pool, companies are showing greater flexibility in the requirements of the individuals they recruit.
- This flexibility means increased mobility for RMs whose experience is limited to SMEs but are looking to expand their portfolios to include larger institutions in new positions.
- It also means that candidate ‘jumpiness’ is less of a hindrance to recruitment, with requirements for mid-level candidates remaining in positions for five years reduced to three.
- In lieu of the larger salaries that candidates are demanding, companies are offering extra benefits including the waving of probation periods and offering additional ‘family friendly’ holidays such as ‘birthday leave’.
- The implementation of mobile payments, something that is already standard on the mainland, is expected to grow in prominence in the coming year.
-Ends-
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About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2017 the Group employed 10,800 staff operating from 256 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2017:
– the Group reported net fees of £954.6 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £211.5 million;
– the Group placed around 70,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 240,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 24% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific, 49% in Continental Europe & RoW (CERoW) and 27% in the United Kingdom & Ireland;
– the temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mainland China, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA