With 2015 having drawn to a close, Hong Kong’s slowing economy has dampened employees’ salary expectations, with more than half (51%) not expecting a bonus for their efforts.

Another four in 10 (40%) also admit they are not anticipating a pay rise.

However, this is well ahead of employees in regional neighbours Singapore (69 and 62% respectively) and Malaysia (78 and 76% respectively), where the bonus and pay rise outlooks seem more dismal.

However, despite this flat end to the year, three out of five (60%) of Hong Kong employees are optimistic about their employer’s performance this year, in Randstad’s year-end survey.

Michael Smith, Randstad’s MD for Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore said: “Hong Kong employers are taking a cautious approach to their pay strategies in 2016, considering the current economic uncertainties and business challenges looming over Hong Kong.”

He expected the base pay adjustment for 2016 to be 3.8% on average in the city-state.

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Sectoral trends

The increasing demand for data and technically proficient roles and specialist skills is making employees more aware of the challenges their industries face.

More than seven in 10 (73%) say that their employer currently has trouble finding the right talent, with 68% expecting this to get even more difficult in the future.

A majority of employees (72%) said the solution for this lies in more relevant training, and want their employers to invest more in developing digital skills, a sentiment echoed in Singapore (80%) and Malaysia (84%).

This stemmed from almost half (44%) of Hong Kong employees feeling that their jobs are at risk of being automated within the next decade.

Nonetheless, this view doesn’t spill over to too many industries, as overall just 8% feel they are under high risk of either losing their job or not having their contract extended in the next six months.

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