Hong Kong Tech Firms Woo Talent From Southeast Asia With Bigger Pay Packages Amid Brain Drain

• Companies like Tutor Circle, Hong Kong's largest tutoring platform, are trying to find remote recruits after a grueling job hunt in the city.
• Recruiters say their tech clients are open to recruiting candidates from Southeast Asia

After a lengthy and unsuccessful search for talent in Hong Kong, Tutor Club founder and CEO Andy Ng decided to expand his company's search to Southeast Asia.

This year, Ng recruited two remote software engineers from Malaysia to join his 20-strong team.

Nanny Club is among Hong Kong companies leveraging Southeast Asia's tech talent pool to combat the city's industrial brain drain.

Do you have questions about important topics and trends worldwide? Get the answer with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of explanations, FAQs, analysis and insights from our award-winning team.

"A significant number of young talents have left Hong Kong in recent years, which has created a talent shortage," Ng said. "As demand for tech talent continues to grow in Hong Kong, higher recruitment costs will be required to retain them."

© Andy Ng (centre), executive director of the Morning Post Tutor Club in southern China, hired two remote software engineers from Malaysia after finding no suitable candidates locally. Photo: manuscript

Hong Kong has experienced a severe talent shortage in recent years. More than 200,000 foreigners and Hong Kongers fled the city between mid-2020 and last winter following social unrest and strict quarantine measures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government has pledged $16 billion ($2.03 billion) in funding to transform Hong Kong into a global innovation and technology hub. With investments in artificial intelligence, quantum computing technology, healthcare and life sciences, the domestic tech sector is growing rapidly due to skills shortages.

To prevent the brain drain, the government launched a new program in January to actively attract international talent by offering applicants from the world's top 100 universities a two-year visa to work in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong companies have a growing need for Southeast Asian talent to join the city's burgeoning tech sector, according to a report released Tuesday by recruitment platform Glints and Monk Hill Ventures.

Jerry Chang, chief executive of major research firm Barons & Co, said his company is bracing for a shortage of talent to serve clients outside of Hong Kong, especially as remote work becomes more viable.

"Everyone is fighting for the same fishpond in the same pond," Chang said. “Exit is definitely the right way. Thanks to the technology, programmers only need a laptop and a VPN to work.”

Companies sweeten deal to bring foreign workers back to China after Covid-19 migration

The Glint report, which analyzed more than 10,000 data points on startup talent hiring trends, salary and equity data, and founder interviews across Southeast Asia, found that the average salary for tech roles in Hong Kong is 2.5 times higher than in Southeast Asia. . .

In Hong Kong, senior software developers with five to 10 years of experience earn an average salary of US$67,560 per year, three times what their Indonesian counterparts earn.

Countries like Vietnam, where Silicon Valley-trained engineers are returning home to found startups, are contributing to Southeast Asia's fast-growing pool of tech talent.

Communication is a top concern for employers when hiring remote workers, Baron Chang said, adding that cost savings are the least of his concerns. "I think people try to find the right talent no matter where they come from," he said.

Nanny Club Ng says remote workers have worked well for him. Ng says they've saved 30-40% on the cost of expanding their team because they didn't have to move to a larger office and felt more valued by attending video meetings frequently.

Hong Kong employers look forward to welcoming returning visitors.

Strong demand for tech talent was reflected in KPMG's pay report last month, which showed more than 83% of IT workers expect a pay rise this year, up from 62% last year when companies struggled to keep employees to keep.

"Every business needs talent to compete and survive, and local talent will increase wages," Ng said.

"Hong Kong companies are looking at alternative working arrangements to support their business growth in the post-epidemic era."

More articles from SCMP

'Don't kill him, it's grandpa': Hong Kong mom says moths attending Ching Ming festival are ghosts of dead relatives

A champion: Reinier de Ridder wants to show Tye Ruotolo "one of the best in the world".

Why did China launch an anti-corruption investigation into its financial sector and how to avoid the risks?

Teacher turnover does not bode well for a stable learning environment in Hong Kong.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), a major news outlet covering China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Hong Kong Organized Crime Syndicates | Unravel the mysteries