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Jobs

Jobs
News about job creation, job losses, labour disputes, wage trends and other developments from around the world with a focus on Hong Kong and China.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
A new survey shows a record high 78.2 per cent of Japanese people are anxious about their lives. Photo: Getty Images
Japan

‘Very worrying’: record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, survey shows

Economy, rising prices, uncertain job prospects and the state of the world among reasons for concern, as more feel standard of living declining.

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Banking & finance

Hong Kong employers seek more relationship managers and data analysts next year

Singapore

SingPost downplays concerns over operational integrity after terminations

Artificial intelligence

China faces AI talent shortage in otherwise booming industry, report finds

A quarter of ‘new economy’ job openings this year on the Maimai platform have been directly related to AI, as Big Tech firms fight for top talent.

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AI has emerged as a bright spot in a bleak domestic job market in China’s “new economy”. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong society

Letters | Hong Kong could try an evolved approach to workfare, like Singapore

Readers discuss unemployment support, the call for ‘integration’, and the current sad state of the Airport Express.

Macau

Macau youth ‘happy to stay’, but will economic revamp create the right jobs?

Lack of career prospects frustrates many, while observers say push to diversify economy needs focus on training to nurture talent.

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Trade

The View | East Asia’s success shows regional integration key to global competitiveness

The experience of today’s successful economies underscores that competitive advantage emerges not from isolation but from strategic collaboration.

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Employees work at a metal company’s production line in a Thai-Chinese industrial zone in Rayong province, Thailand, on November 8, 2022. Photo: Xinhua
Singapore

Singapore’s Carousell lays off 76 workers, cites ‘slowdown’ in consumer demand

The job cuts by Carousell reflect a wider trend in the tech sector due to overexpansion and economic headwinds, an analyst says.

Banking & finance

Hong Kong firms plan hiring sprees as economy perks up in 2025: survey

Most executives expect revenue growth next year, and hiring intentions are at a four-year high, CPA Australia report says.

Japan

Japan’s end-of-year drinking parties downsize as enthusiasm wanes

Younger employees say they do not want to be pressured to go to such corporate parties, seen as an extension of work they would rather avoid.

More Japanese are having reservations about attending their employers’ “bonenkai” end-of-year parties. Photo: Shutterstock
China society

Opinion | Spate of random killings rooted in China’s social and economic despair

The mental trauma from pandemic controls and the economic slump have led to feelings of helplessness and despair that cannot be ignored.

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A woman offers a prayer in front of a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on November 13, two days after a driver rammed his car into a crowd there, killing 35. Photo: Kyodo
China’s Communist Party

Chinese county grapples with how to reward workers for difficult, low-level jobs

Report finds frontline workers overwhelmed leaving ‘little time or energy for systematic learning or professional development’.

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US-China relations

Opinion | Trump’s tariff obsession is no match for China’s growth model

While tariffs raise costs and disrupt trade, China’s approach fosters internal economic resilience and positions it as a leader in sustainable growth.

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Hong Kong society

Opinion | How Hong Kong can prepare top talent arrivals for success

To bridge expectation gaps, Hong Kong must do more to help talented professionals adapt to the city’s labour market.

Visitors walk along the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, on October 19. Photo: Nora Tam
Banking & finance

Hong Kong’s jobs market dims as 46% of workers show weaker confidence about prospects

Only 55 per cent of employers expect to give pay increases ranging from 1 to 5 per cent, a Robert Walters survey shows.

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The city’s working professionals are becoming risk averse about switching jobs. Photo: Dickson Lee
Health & Fitness

China’s top fitness app slashes jobs as online users drop out

Keep is reportedly cutting more than 100 jobs, as online gym memberships lose their appeal in a challenging economy.

United States

Opinion | North American ports must automate or risk losing out to Asia and Europe

While automated hubs in Asia and Europe attract more trade, ports in the US and Canada are mired in inefficiency and recurring labour disputes.

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Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Where are the nurses? Will higher pay lure non-locals to Hong Kong?

Worries persist despite rule change to open door to professionals trained elsewhere, as city set to be short of thousands of nurses by 2045.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
India

India’s female gig workers facing unsafe conditions, seek change and justice

Female gig workers in India have formed a union to advocate for rights and visibility, and confront harassment, unsafe conditions, and exploitation.

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China jobs

An advanced degree in China? Think again, students say, as exam numbers plunge

China’s graduate entrance examination is not seen as the golden ticket to employment that it once was.

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Indonesia

Indonesians urge ‘structural frugal living’ boycott of planned VAT hike

Analysts say the hike could add to the middle class’ financial burden, with some Indonesians planning to avoid buying goods subject to VAT.

Customers walk in front of a store at a shopping centre in Jakarta. Indonesia plans to raise its VAT to 12% from January 1. Photo: EPA-EFE
Australia

Australia’s gender pay gap narrows as ‘change is happening’

But women employees on average still earn A$28,425 (US$18,590) less each year than their male colleagues.

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Pedestrians at Sydney’s Westfield shopping centre. A report in February showed the gender pay gap at some of Australia’s biggest firms was bigger than the national average. Photo: Reuters
Boeing

Boeing to cut nearly 2,200 jobs in Washington state, home to many of its oldest factories

Boeing’s layoffs are part of plan to cut 17,000 jobs globally, or 10 per cent of the planemaker’s workforce.

China jobs

China’s youth-jobless rate hovers above 17% for fourth consecutive month

Unemployment rate for the 16 -24 age group, excluding students, stood at 17.1 per cent in October.

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Low-altitude economy

Why is demand for drone pilots soaring in China?

Training programmes becoming increasingly popular as more job opportunities open up for UAV operators.

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A Meituan delivery drone is seen on display at the Global Digital Economy Conference 2022 in Beijing. Photo: Shutterstock
India

Trump 2.0 sparks concern in India about mobility of skilled workers to US

Experts say Trump’s administration could reintroduce tougher immigration policies and pull back on the H-1B visa for skilled professionals.

Donald Trump previously described the H1-B programme as “very bad” and labelled it “unfair” to US workers. Photo: TNS
Women and gender

Opinion | Faster, bolder action needed to empower women across the Asia-Pacific

Great strides made since 1995 Beijing Declaration of women’s rights but progress still uneven and often fragile. True equality remains elusive.

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Singapore

Singapore’s workplace fairness law hailed but rights group points to gaps

Employers who discriminate against workers based on characteristics such as race, age, sex and nationality could be prosecuted under the proposed law.

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