Amid Hong Kong’s graduate job gloom, Greater Bay Area offers hope

Hong Kong’s small market and an unbalanced and narrow economic structure offer limited choices for fresh graduates to pursue their dreams
Opportunities are unfolding across the border, as the likes of Shenzhen roll out measures to attract young people from Hong Kong and Macau

Ken Chu

Published: 6:45am, 21 Aug 2021

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Figures released this month show that 2.9 per cent of last year’s graduates from Hong Kong’s eight publicly funded universities are unemployed, the highest rate in 11 years.

A poignant statistic is the 5.7 per cent jobless rate among graduates of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where I serve on the council. This rate is nearly double the average, and truly concerning.

Back in 2019, CUHK was the site of the most violent protests seen on a university campus in Hong Kong. This memory, as well as the pro-democracy activities witnessed on campus from time to time, might have resulted in employers’ hesitation in hiring CUHK graduates.

Yet I hope our local employers can be fair and open-minded, because most CUHK graduates are diligent, enterprising, intelligent and law-abiding.

Hong Kong’s university graduates are finding it harder to get a job these days. An oversupply of graduates means more competition for employment.

The impact of the year-long social unrest in Hong Kong, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, has also lowered the desire of companies to hire more staff. Besides, some firms prefer to employ university graduates with solid work experience, but few of our students manage that before graduation.

Yet, if they are never given the opportunity to work in the first place, how can they satisfy the employers’ experience requirements? This is a chicken-and-egg dilemma.

Moreover, there are structural factors that pose tremendous obstacles to graduates’ chances of securing a decent job, let alone a meaningful career. Hong Kong’s small market and an unbalanced and narrow economic structure offer limited choices for our university students to pursue their dreams.

I am heartened to see that CUHK has taken concrete action to support its fresh graduates in their job searches, including by organising career talks and reaching out to alumni and potential employers.

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Yet, I believe that to broaden career prospects and accumulate work experience, all our university students, and all young people for that matter, should not confine themselves to Hong Kong. Rather, if they look towards the Greater Bay Area, they will find many more opportunities awaiting them.

Help for young university students to fulfil their career needs is readily available today, not just from the universities themselves and the Hong Kong government, but also from authorities in the Greater Bay Area, who have extended a helping hand.

With a population of 86 million and a combined gross domestic product of US$1.67 trillion, the Greater Bay Area rivals many leading bay areas and even some countries. It is a great platform for our young people, including graduates.

Across the river, the Shenzhen government has introduced measures to attract young people from Hong Kong and Macau to launch start-ups, including business set-up and rent subsidies.

Greater Bay Area: Hong Kong youth should grab the opportunities on offer

Furthermore, the Shenzhen government is considering offering young entrepreneurs and employees from Hong Kong and Macau subsidies towards renting or buying a flat, alleviating the burden of living costs should they decide to build a career there.

The Hong Kong government has rolled out schemes to enable young people, including university graduates, to gain a strong foothold in the job market and grow new businesses in the Greater Bay Area. One notable scheme is the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme.

High unemployment rates among fresh university graduates is currently a global phenomenon. However, I would say to those in Hong Kong not to despair, given the vast array of opportunities that are unfolding in the Greater Bay Area. All it requires is to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills.

The Greater Bay Area is a platform for our young people to realise their career and entrepreneurial dreams. They just need the right mindset, and courage, to seize the opportunities before them.

Ken Chu is group chairman and CEO of Mission Hills Group and a national committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference