HONG KONG: Employment prospects in Hong Kong have fallen to their lowest point since the fourth quarter of 2001, according to a survey by the international human resources firm, Hudson International.

Only 18 percent of company managers who took part in the survey said they intended to hire managerial staff during the first quarter of 2009.

A similar survey in the previous quarter showed 32 percent of companies intended to hire more managerial staff.

The situation is even worse than the days of the SARS epidemic in 2003, Mike Game, Hudson's CEO for Asia, told a press conference yesterday. "It is surprising to see the low recruitment growth. Understandably, the financial crisis is a global issue that causes impact everywhere but SARS was comparatively a local issue that was resolved within a shorter time," he commented.

The decrease in expectations reflected the lowest level among similar surveys across Asia.

Exacerbating the already difficult employment market, many companies are planning to downsize manpower to stay afloat during the times of economic turbulence.

Hudson International interviewed 812 Hong Kong executives during November, concerning corporate recruitment plans for 2009.

The survey also revealed 33 percent of company managers said they would not pay higher salaries to newcomers. That figure is sharply higher on a year to year basis over 2008. Last year, only 5 percent indicated they would decline to pay higher salaries.

Only 11 percent would award salary increases in excess of 10 percent versus 59 percent a year ago.

On the question of bonuses, 23 percent said they did not intend to issue year-end bonuses, against 8 percent in the first quarter last year. On the question of corporate performance during 2009, 51 percent of those interviewed, anticipated their companies' performances would remain stable throughout the year. Nine percent foresaw "very bad" prospects for the year. Only 2 percent said they expected 2009 to be a "very good" year from a corporate perspective.

"A recruitment freeze appears to be the commonest human resources strategy among many of those who were interviewed amid the current economic situation. Respectively, 20 percent and 19 percent said they would adopt strategic recruitment policies and seek headquarters approval prior to recruitment," he added.

Classified by sectors, PR/advertising were the worst hit, with 23 percent of companies planning to cut their PR/marketing budget because of the economic downturn.

Other affected sectors included: information technology/technology (19 percent), banking/financial services, manufacturing, legal services (all were 11 percent). But only 3 percent of the companies in the consumer goods/daily necessities sectors would cut the number of staff.

(HK Edition 01/22/2009 page1)