Hong Kong’s financial services sector could boost hiring by as much as 15 per cent next year, fuelled by buoyant capital markets and growth in assets under management, according to a global recruitment agency.
The surging equity markets in Hong Kong and mainland China had boosted revenues and budgets for hiring investment professionals and traders, said John Mullally, managing director for Hong Kong at Robert Walters.
The jobs market would be “more functional”, with hiring across the financial services sector likely to rise by 10 to 15 per cent in 2026, though it would remain below the levels seen a few years ago, he said. “It’ll be slower but steadier.”
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Hong Kong’s finance and insurance industries employed about 268,000 people in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 4.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Census and Statistics Department. That tally is still short of a record 287,800 in 2021 before it dropped to 261,000 in 2024.
Finance firms in Hong Kong are increasing their headcount, according to recruiters. Photo: K. Y. Cheng alt=Finance firms in Hong Kong are increasing their headcount, according to recruiters. Photo: K. Y. Cheng>
Mullally said his firm had seen an uptick of about 20 per cent in live roles coming to market in recent months, compared with the first quarter. “But that hasn’t translated into a similar rise in offers [as] confidence is still lacking.”
Some banks rushed to hire in 2021 and 2022 only to make redundancies soon after, resulting in a more cautious stance now, he said. Banks were also prioritising cost efficiencies and savings, leading to a higher bar to finalise a hire, Mullally added.
HSBC Holdings, Hong Kong’s largest banking group by assets, is undergoing a two-year revamp that involves combining units and selling noncore businesses. In May, its soon-to-be-merged subsidiary Hang Seng Bank cut as much as 20 per cent of staff in some departments, with the hardest-hit team reduced by almost half, according to a Post report.
“Candidates are also more risk averse when it comes to moving jobs given the lack of job security over the past two to three years,” Mullally said.
However, green shoots were emerging, according to recruiters.
“It’s quite obvious that in the third quarter, we have had more activity in the financial services area,” said Elaine Lam, managing director at Robert Half Hong Kong, another global recruitment firm.