However, there's a wide gap with what employers can offer and what employees expect
Tech professionals across Hong Kong say that renumeration is the most important factor when it comes to career choices, but recent trends show that employers' offers may not be up to par with workers' expectations.
The 2022 Hays Greater China Technology Salary Guide revealed that renumeration and benefits is the most important factor (40%) influencing a Hong Kong-based tech worker's career choice, followed by career development (27%), and then work-life balance (15%).
However, key trends from the report revealed that 41% of Hong Kong companies are expecting to provide employees with no more than three per cent salary increments.
This much lesser than the 20 to 30% increment expectations of tech workers should they move to a new employer, according to the report, and the 10 to 20% increment expectation if they stay with their current bosses.
Despite these expectations, however, 47% of employees remain "generally satisfied" with the current renumeration packages offered to them.
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This means that employers can still do more than just matching salary expectations, according to Sue Wei, managing director of Hays Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
"We've seen that employees are still more willing to stay with their company with the lower salary increase versus jumping to a new company with a higher salary increase," she said in a media roundtable on Monday.
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"So, meaning that there is still something that the incumbent employer can do beyond just matching whatever offer is given externally."
According to Sue, employers also need to think about company identity, saying that employees are no longer just looking for money.
"We need to think about company identity. We talked about things like meaningful purpose for agencies," she said. "They're not just looking for money and a big brand. They're looking for an intangible value alignment with the company that they work for."
Sue said the question on how employers could approach salary expectations is a "million-dollar" one that could have no real answer nor good solution.
"My only suggestion to employers is don't think in the old school ways of giving them money, giving them a bonus, and just expect them to be happy," she said. "You need to really think about those other things that other companies are doing."