Workers in Hong Kong should be getting an average pay rise of 2.8 percent this year, slightly higher than the 2.7 percent increase in 2025, a survey has showed.

The survey, conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management in the first nine months of this year, looked at 173 companies from 12 business sectors that together have more than 180,000 full-time employees.

Lawrence Hung, the immediate past president and executive council member of the institute, said companies remained cautious in their remuneration strategies.

“I think 2.8 percent is a prudent approach for salary increase,” he said.

“I guess a majority of the enterprises ... will really look at the business economy and also how they operate within these high-interest conditions, as well as have to balance through attraction, retention and development of the manpower.”

Hung added that enterprises were willing to pay more for core talent possessing critical skills who could contribute to their companies.

Employers would consider their company's performance, Hong Kong’s economic conditions and market pay adjustments when altering their employees’ salaries, according to survey researchers.

Hung said the survey was also projecting that the average pay increase for 2027 would come in at 2.9 percent.

While 44 percent of companies surveyed planned to implement salary increases, 56 percent had yet to decide, he said.

Hung said talent retention should not solely be reliant on pay rises given the limited growth in salary budgets.

Instead, he called on companies to take a holistic approach by offering skill training, enhancing benefits and adopting family-friendly measures to retain talent.

Meanwhile, the survey also found the average pay rise for this year to be 2.8 percent in Macao and 4.2 percent in other Greater Bay Area cities.




Edited by Tony Sabine