Hong Kong employees this year received the smallest pay rise since the latter stages of the pandemic at 3.2 per cent, but they could expect better packages and employment opportunities next year, a human resources professionals representative said on Thursday.
The Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management revealed that employees in the city enjoyed a pay rise of 3.2 per cent in 2024, the lowest rate since 2022.
But Lawrence Hung Yu-yun, president of the institute, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the outlook of pay packages, with the organisation forecasting a 3.6 per cent rise for 2025.
“The economic situation is unfavourable this year. But the worst time has passed, as we now have more inbound travellers and firms are also benefiting from interest rate cuts,” Hung said.
The numbers are parts of a survey conducted from January to September this year among 186 enterprises based in Hong Kong, involving nearly 110,000 employees.
The survey also found that more than 8.3 per cent of firms had conducted a pay freeze, affecting almost 20 per cent of employees covered by the study, compared with only 6.8 per cent of staff in 2023.
