Job growth in Hong Kong’s highly paid financial services sector is set to jump 15 per cent in the next few years and foreigners will dominate the new hires, a new report from the government’s Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) concludes.

Poor English language skills and the unwillingness of graduates to take jobs in the fast-growing area of back-office compliance are locking Hongkongers out of one of the must lucrative sectors of the city’s economy.

“Overall, the financial sector is going to hire more than the GDP growth rate of Hong Kong,” Joe Ngai, member and convenor of human capital committee of the FSDC, told reporters at the publication of the report which was a year-long in the making.

“Many local graduates have found themselves facing formidable challenge from mainland graduates and international professionals who are better equipped with the necessary skills required by financial firms. Local graduates need to improve their language skills and knowledge to compete or they risk losing top jobs to mainland and expatriate professionals.”

Private banks and insurance companies are driving demand for staff, but the trends in their product offerings towards yuan-denominated business, strong northern demand for buying policies in Hong Kong and the fact that most new stock market listings in the city are done by mainland firms are likely to favour hiring of native Mandarin speakers.

“Many brokers only have analysts on Hong Kong stocks before and now they need to hire new teams to do research on (mainland-listed) A shares after the link up between Hong Kong and Shanghai,” Ngai said.

Shanghai and Hong Kong linked their stock markets under a scheme launched in November. It is widely expected to be the model for a broadening of financial market linkages between Hong Kong and the mainland.

Meanwhile the report, one of the major publications unveiled by the FSDC since it was established in January 2013, said employers in the city found local staff lacked good English language skills and that university students were primarily interested in frontline, high profile jobs at investment banks.

The number of back office jobs, however, has surged in the wake of the global financial crisis. Rafts of new regulation designed to contain the systemic risks that brought the international financial system to its knees in 2008 have forced financial institutions to massively expand their compliance operations.

The skills shortage in the previously thinly-staffed area has seen salaries leap, offering some of the most lucrative desk jobs in global finance.

FSDC chairwoman Laura Cha said Hong Kong could solve its talent shortage by training locals and importing staff from overseas.

“Hong Kong does not have many hedge funds or private equity talents. These firms would need to hire from overseas,” she said. “The lack of international schools and air pollution issues may discourage expatriates to come to stay. We would like to see improvement in these areas to enhance the competiveness of the city.”

Link: http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1692208/job-growth-hong-kong-financial-services-sector-rise-15-cent

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