Hong Kong's manpower market is enjoying a brighter outlook in 2004 after experiencing two consecutive years of negative hiring intentions among companies, according to the findings of a manpower planning survey released in Hong Kong Monday.

The survey was conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM) during January and February 2004 in which 114 companies, with a combined workforce of some 57,000, completed and returned the questionnaire.

The finding shows that the responding companies are more optimistic about their future manpower requirements for 2004. Up to 42 percent of the responding companies are expecting higher manpower requirements, with a slight increase of 0.7 percent overall in permanent manpower expected for 2004.

Comparing to an overall decrease of 12 percent in 2002 and 0.3 percent in 2003, the positive figure has indicated better hiring intentions among Hong Kong companies this year, said Sara Cheung, research director of HKIHRM.

In general, small and medium-sized companies tend to be more upbeat in hiring while large companies are still making efforts to shed staff, it showed.

Regarding the changing picture of permanent full-time employees in 2004, a higher proportion of companies have expressed an intention to employ more staff at the middle management level and below. For flexible workforce, the hiring of contract full-time employees for a term of "60 days to less than two years" is also expected to increase, the survey said.

"The findings indicate that hiring confidence among Hong Kong companies has returned, especially for the small and medium enterprises that expect to expand their business during the recent economic rebound," said Sara Cheung. The preferred mode for hiring low-skilled workers is for contract or part-time staff, Sara Cheung added.

Conducted since 1998, the manpower planning survey has been capturing trends and ways that Hong Kong companies manage their workforce. Key areas of findings cover employee composition, hiring modes and the impact of closer economic ties between Hong Kong and mainland on manpower planning of corporations.

Source: Xinhua