A council that represents non-governmental social services organisations on Wednesday said most groups they spoke to are facing manpower shortages and money issues, with nearly half of them expecting less funding next year.

The Hong Kong Council of Social Service said it surveyed more than 140 organisations and found that nearly 86 percent of them faced staff shortages and that a lot of experienced social workers have retired or left the industry.

Its chief executive Chua Hoi-wai said it is vital to invest in new talent.

"I think different kinds of training [are needed]. And not only this, but we also should try to attract more people joining our profession, joining our sector," he said.

"We want more people to understand the impact of social welfare services so that we can gather more cross-sector collaboration and we can also attract more talents to join our sector."

In terms of funding, Chua said the council found that 78 percent of the organisations polled are dealing with cash shortfalls.

He said the economic situation in the SAR is contributing to a drop in donations, adding the survey found that nearly half of the firms it spoke to anticipate a decrease in funding and donations for 2024-25.

"We would not have enough resources to provide the needy social services, and another issue is when we say that we have a lack of manpower, actually the cost of manpower has increased in these few years," he said.

Chua also said the council encouraged NGOs to invest more in digital transformation to help reduce costs or increase efficiency.