Under the epidemic, the number of jobs for Hong Kong graduates dropped by a quarter

Under the epidemic, employment positions for Hong Kong graduates fell by a quarter

　　[Global Times Reporter Zhao Juehui] Due to the repeated new crown epidemic in Hong Kong, Hong Kong's economy has been continuously negatively affected, which has also affected the employment situation of university graduates.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted data from JobsDB, a Hong Kong-based job recruitment website, that this year, the starting salary of about 20,000 university graduates in Hong Kong is facing the biggest drop in five years, and the number of recruiting positions has decreased by nearly a quarter compared to 2019. , The employment situation is bleak.

　　JobsDB data shows that nearly one-third of the respondents are seeking job opportunities outside of Hong Kong, “because there are fewer vacancies open to recent graduates, competition is more intense, and employers’ choices are more stringent.”

According to data released by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, from August to October this year, the unemployment rate of young people aged 20 to 24 reached 19.7%, which was much higher than the overall unemployment rate of 6.4%, the most severe in the past 16 years.

The latest data from the job search system jointly operated by the eight public universities in Hong Kong also shows that from July to November this year, recent graduates can choose about 25,200 jobs, down 24% from the same period last year.

In the first nine months of this year, jobs provided by JobsDB also fell by 40%.

The South China Morning Post also quoted JobsDB’s survey of 1,200 fresh graduates from August to October this year, stating that the average starting salary of respondents was HK$16,077, a decrease of 3.7% from 2019, which is also the survey’s five-year period. The biggest drop.

In addition, about 76% of the graduates surveyed said they were satisfied with their first job, which is 11% lower than in 2019.

　　However, the difficulty in finding jobs for Hong Kong college graduates did not start this year.

According to a previous report by the Hong Kong Oriental Daily News, the latest information from the University Grants Committee showed that there were 21,068 full-time bachelor's graduates from eight public universities in 2018-19. Among them, 18,365 were investigated by the institution. Among them, 805 were underemployed and 432 were fully employed. unemployment.