Hays Construction
January - March 2012
HONG KONG Hotspots
An affluent economic climate in Hong Kong's construction and architecture market is leading to an increasing number of roles in the corporate property sector. As part of this trend we have seen more roles for candidates based in Hong Kong but working on China projects, in particular for Architectural Project Managers.
There is still a high demand for Interior Designers specialising in corporate fit-outs, hospitality and institutional spaces.
Hong Kong developers continue to build large mixed-use developments in China, focusing on the high growth tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Project Directors and mechanical, electrical and plumbing staff are sought to assist with the construction phase.
The coming quarter
While there is a large amount of work due to commence this year, particularly in the civil construction field, employers continue to adopt a cautious approach to their hiring plans. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of opportunities for candidates to assist with the ongoing development of Hong Kong.
Employer trends
Salaries are increasing to cope with the rising demand for candidates but employers are becoming aware that they cannot pay the same lower salaries as they were paying during the period following the global financial crisis in 2008.
As a result, salaries are now close to the level we saw prior to the market downturn.
Candidate trends
Key attributes sought by employers are local China experience, relations and language skills for roles in China, past working relationships with high level luxury brands for the retail sector, and high grade corporate experience for CRE facility and project positions.
The global economic conditions dictate that there are many potential candidates seeking to migrate to the Far East. North America, Europe and the Middle East are still recovering from economic strife and individuals who had gone to the Middle East on large expatriate packages have found that projects have been shut down and so are looking elsewhere.
