A study has found that there has been a severe mismatch between supply and demand in the job market in the Greater Bay Area last year, with overall employee turnover rates hitting 11 percent among enterprises in the region.

The study was jointly conducted by an institute under the Sun Yat-sen University and Hong Kong-based talent agency, KOS International, covering surveys with 150 firms in the GBA between April and December last year.

With a focus on the GBA's talent development, the report noted over 70 percent of the companies were taking a cautious approach when it came to hiring last year, and planned to hire fewer than 30 new employees in the coming three to five years.

Meanwhile, employee turnover rates hit as high as 15 percent in Shenzhen and Jiangmen.

Speaking at a press conference, He Junzhi, director of the Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies at the university, noted that these concerning trends reflect a structural problem seen in the age of artificial intelligence.

However, he added, there has also been a huge demand from employers, or over 60 percent of the surveyed firms, looking for so-called hybrid talent, which refers to professionals who possess multidisciplinary skill sets.

"So what kind of hybrid talent are mostly sought after? They are someone who is both skilled in technology as well as management.

"Meanwhile, they need to be international, so it's again, a combination, that you need to have a good understanding of technological innovation as well as the international businesses," he said.

"Employers in the GBA have a high demand for research and development. It also reflects that the region is currently shifting from manufacturing-based to a [growth] model that focuses on research and development as well as high-end manufacturing," he added.

He called on city governments in the GBA to set up more public training platforms to develop talent, adding that Hong Kong can play a bigger role in luring highly-skilled professionals from around the world.

"We need to have a set of coordinated policies based on internationalisation and integration to attract more global talent and jointly cultivate the talent and achieve win-win outcomes," he said.

The surveys included 71 in-depth interviews with companies from various industries, including in traditional and advanced manufacturing, modern services, as well as other core sectors in the GBA.


Edited by Aaron Tam