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What will 2012 Hold for HR Talent in Hong Kong?

Final Thoughts on 2011

The year 2011 ended with three main trends showing in the Hong Kong HR talent market:

  1. Intense pressure on HR to contain costs reached a peak. Active assignments were cancelled and headcount was frozen, especially within financial services. Restructuring occurred in a number of high profile banks in Hong Kong.
  2. Industries outside of financial services were largely unaffected and it was ‘business as usual’ for HR appointments.
  3. Questions around organisation structure were being asked. How companies could make the most of China investment and North Asia in general began to colour roles based in Hong Kong. Some companies moved Hong Kong under Greater China or split Hong Kong into a smaller unit and the HR Head for North Asia shifted to Shanghai or Beijing in some cases.

Our Predictions for 2012

Hong Kong remains a pivotal location for regional HR leaders and in some cases global HR Leaders. With pressure on Asia to show a return on investment made in 2011, we feel 2012 will mean a cautious and cost-focused year. We expect to see budgets for hiring approved at the 11th hour and an activity curve that could mirror 2010, with low volume and selective hiring early in the year balanced by a quickening of pace in Quarters Three and Four.

Here are the rest of our predictions for Hong Kong in 2012.

  • More focus than ever before on employee engagement and retention. With hiring likely to be low but growth still a focus, HR Leaders in Hong Kong have shared that 2012 will require more emphasis on engagement and retention in the face of this challenge. Keeping top talent to drive growth and making the most of new hires will be critical for HR Leaders.
  • Cost containment & restructuring. Unfortunately we get the sense from HR Leaders this is likely to continue in the early part of 2012, especially in financial services. HR Leaders are clear that rebalancing support ratios for HR to the business is top of their agenda in Hong Kong.
  • Further shifts in geographic alignment. We feel more North Asia roles based in Hong Kong could be created rather than companies keeping Asia as a whole regional entity. The proximity to China and continued focus on this economy will be a driver.
  • Financial services HR chameleons in 2012? With restructuring and uncertainty in the sector we expect 2012 could see more financial services HR talent choose to move into other industries than ever before. We’ve already seen a few people make this change in the closing stages of 2011.
  • Cost to hire vs. market knowledge. We started to see more talent from outside Asia (Europe & North America) moving in to Hong Kong at the end of 2011 especially in specialist roles which proved harder to fill from market talent pool (C&B, ER and Leadership/Talent Management) and representing good value for money vs. the market. With more focus on cost in 2012 this may be an area for HR Leaders to harness new talent if they feel skills and experience can outweigh regional exposure.

In conclusion 2012 could be challenging for HR Leaders in Hong Kong on a number of fronts. However the full picture may not be clear until we begin to see how businesses are performing at the end of Q2 and whether cost reduction or investment will be on the agenda.

The Chapman Consulting Group will be co-hosting their next series of HR Leader sessions in Hong Kong during February 2012. For more information please contact Ben Davies bd@ChapmanCG.com

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