Vicki Kwong
A shortage of skilled workers in Hong Kong is making it
increasingly difficult to find professionals with practical
knowledge in information technology (IT), according to leading
recruitment agencies.
'Development skills are very difficult to find here, and so
are Web-related skills,' said Greg McCloskey, manager of the
IT division at Robert Walters Recruitment Consultancy.
As a result, many investment banks and large corporations
in Hong Kong are looking for talent elsewhere.
'A lot of companies are looking at India: I know a lot of
investment banks have done that on the IT side as well the
accountancy side,' he said.
The Government's 'Manpower Projection to 2005' report,
released earlier this month, says the demand for IT personnel
is expected to almost double from 50,000 last year to 98,200
in 2005.
After matching projected manpower demand and supply, a
shortage of 116,900 workers with post-secondary education or
above is also anticipated.
Peter Udall, senior IT recruitment manager at Relational
Designers, which recently set up an office in Hong Kong, said
providing training to existing staff was only a medium-term
solution, especially when turnover was high.
'Local candidates tend to skip from one job to another
without consolidating their skills, particularly in technical
areas. Companies can be reserved in training if the staff have
a record of not staying in a job for a long time.'
According to Mr Udall, recruiting from overseas is the most
effective way to meet the shortfall.
But he said some firms were deterred from hiring overseas
candidates because of the misconception that they would
require expensive expatriate packages.
Mr McCloskey said although these people tended to receive a
premium over local candidates, the packages were not
excessive.
'A lot of it is the real hassle of having to go [abroad] or
getting somebody else to do it for you. But sometimes they
come to the realisation that they just cannot find the skills
locally,' he said.
David Brodlie, recruitment manager at Michael Page
Technology, said the shortage of people with strong IT skills
had put upward pressure on salaries.
