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Opinion | In the global race for talent, here’s how Hong Kong can get ahead
- Hong Kong isn’t alone in facing a shortage of future-proof talent, which means it needs to be extra competitive
- The necessary steps – reform education, reskill workers, improve quality of life, retain talent – are well known, but require collective effort
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Brain drain. Skills shortage. Human capital deficit. It seems that not a day goes by without a mention of Hong Kong’s talent crunch.
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We have lost about 120,000 residents over the past 12 months – a record 1.6 per cent drop in the population and the third consecutive year of population outflow. Our working population has dipped by 6 per cent over four years to a near-decade low.
Hong Kong is also facing structural demographic issues leading to a shrinking workforce. Our birth rate is among the world’s lowest and consistently below replacement level, and in 19 years about one in three people here will be aged 65 and over.
Talent retention and attraction has now become an issue of substantial concern for businesses and policymakers.
Talent has always played a pivotal role in Hong Kong’s prosperity. Mainland entrepreneurs helped establish the city as a manufacturing centre, and global talent aided in the transformation of Hong Kong into an international financial, aviation and logistics hub.
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Without ample talent, Hong Kong cannot maintain its premier status as an international financial centre and a global trade and business powerhouse. We will also be unable to take full advantage of what the Greater Bay Area has to offer. Ultimately, we need a plentiful supply of skilled local and non-local workers to maintain and enhance our city’s competitiveness.
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