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Karen Zhang

Hongkongers’ monthly pay could plunge 20 per cent this year as the city reels from the Covid-19 pandemic and the lasting impact of the anti-government protests that broke out last summer, job market experts have predicted.
The forecasts were made as official figures published on Monday revealed the median wage increased 3.8 per cent year on year to HK$18,200 (US$2,350), in data not reflecting the grim economic picture in Hong Kong today, they said.
The Census and Statistics Department released the wage data in its 2019 annual earnings and hours survey of about 10,000 business ventures.
Despite city’s woes, workers can expect 3 per cent pay rise next year, survey finds
Dr Felix Yip Wai-kwong, associate director of the centre for human resources strategy and development at Baptist University, said: “The samples collected from last May and June do not reflect the influence of the protests that started in the latter half of last year.
“With the double hit of the protests and the coronavirus outbreak, almost all walks of life in Hong Kong have been hit hard with employees being laid off or having to take unpaid leave.
“I think this year’s median monthly wage will see a negative increase and may drop to around HK$14,000.”
The government survey found the median monthly wage of Hong Kong employees in May and June 2019 was HK$18,200, 3.8 per cent higher than the HK$17,500 from the same period in 2018.
Those aged 15 to 24 earned HK$13,700 per month, amounting to a 5.3 per cent year-on-year increase.
The survey also showed a 3.6 per cent increase in the median hourly wage in May and June, from HK$70.5 in 2018 to HK$73 last year.
The pay analysis excludes government employees, student interns and those on work experience, and live-in domestic workers as exempted by the Minimum Wage Ordinance.

Yip said it would take a long time for Hong Kong’s economy to recover and urged the government to contain the virus and fast-track the release of the HK$10,000 handout for each permanent resident – due in July – to stimulate consumption once the epidemic is brought under control.
Alexa Chow Yee-ping, managing director of AMAC Human Resources Consultants, said the annual survey results were out of date.
“The government should offer half-yearly figures or even quarterly figures which are ideal to reflect the recent situations,” Chow said.
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Chow said with the economy in the doldrums, many employees in the city faced losing their jobs, leave without pay or salary cuts.
“If the government survey includes the unpaid leave conditions, I would expect that median monthly wage to drop between 10 and 20 per cent,” she said.
“I don’t think coronavirus alone could do much damage to Hong Kong’s economy if the companies were healthy before the virus came,” Chow said.
“But the problem is many companies here were already struggling to survive when the anti-extradition protests started last June. Many only have the cash flow for three to six months.”


Chow accused the government of being too slow to bailout companies and criticised officials for excluding industries such as retail and catering from health crisis funding.
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate surged to 3.7 per cent in the period between December 2019 and February this year, the highest in more than nine years, according to the government. Yip estimated the unemployment rate would rise to 5 per cent.
Jobless ‘need HK$35,000 handouts’ as coronavirus batters Hong Kong’s poor
Hong Kong has recorded more than 680 coronavirus infections since the outbreak late last year, with four patients dying.
Also battering businesses were the anti-government protests, which were triggered last June by the now-withdrawn extradition bill and turned city streets into battle zones between police and radicals.


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Coronavirus

Economic Impact


Pay packets could shrink from HK$18,200 (US$2,350) monthly median to HK$14,000, experts warn
Official figures published on Monday and predating full impact of political and health crises show 3.8 per cent wage rise



Pay packets could shrink from the HK$18,200 (US$2,350) monthly median revealed on Monday to HK$14,000, experts warn.


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Hong Kong protests

Hong Kong wages could drop 20 per cent in 2020 for city blighted by coronavirus pandemic, impact of anti-government protests

Pay packets could shrink from HK$18,200 (US$2,350) monthly median to HK$14,000, experts warn Official figures published on Monday and predating full impact of political and health crises show 3.8 per cent wage rise

Pay packets could shrink from HK$18,200 (US$2,350) monthly median to HK$14,000, experts warn

Official figures published on Monday and predating full impact of political and health crises show 3.8 per cent wage rise