One quarter of Hong Kong employees ‘want to quit their jobs’
Majority of survey respondents pick Cathay Pacific as preferred employer
About one in four employees wants to resign this year, with a good number disgruntled by mediocre remuneration, according to a survey that also finds Facebook trumping LinkedIn as the top website among jobseekers.
"As the war for talent continues, all organisations need to … offer benefits that appeal to every generation of workers," Peter Yu, director of recruitment firm Randstad Hong Kong, said.
"Otherwise, they will find their employees looking to move to companies which offer the benefits that suit their needs."
The Netherlands-based firm interviewed people aged 18 to 65 across industries from September to December.
Low compensation, limited career prospects and a lack of recognition from supervisors were cited by 38 per cent, 28 per cent and 26 per cent of the would-be job leavers, respectively.
It followed that salary and job benefits reigned as the most important factor among employees. That was the choice of 63 per cent of all the respondents, followed by a pleasant working environment (49 per cent), a good work-life balance (47 per cent), career progression opportunities (45 per cent) and long-term job security (43 per cent).
Social media emerged as the favoured job-hunting channel, with 49 per cent having used such sites to look for or apply for positions before. Of these people, 65 per cent, 48 per cent and 27 per cent cited Facebook, WhatsApp and Google+, respectively. Only 25 per cent used LinkedIn.
Dr Felix Yip, senior lecturer at Baptist University's department of management, was a little surprised at the findings.
"LinkedIn is popular, especially among young people. I didn't expect Facebook to be that popular," he said. "A lot of people like to use social media to look for jobs because they're on social media almost 24 hours a day."
Cathay Pacific, meanwhile, topped the list of companies Hongkongers most wanted to work for, the pollsters found.
Almost seven out of 10 respondents opted for the airline, followed by amusement destination Ocean Park and then power supplier CLP.
The most attractive employer in the banking and financial services sector is HSBC; in information technology, IBM takes the lead; and in luxury retail, Chanel is tops.
