Show Me the Money - Working in Hong Kong

By: Laura Besley

There is a lot of money in Hong Kong. And there plenty of poverty too. The opulence is everywhere; malls are filled with designer brands; big cars are driven; people are constantly eating out and drinking. But there are also people in tatty clothes cleaning the streets; amputees begging and people living in homes so unstable they flood in rainstorms.



Working, or finding work, is intrinsically linked to where you are from. You need a visa to work in Hong Kong, and to obtain one you need:

• A Hong Kong passport (only possible if you were born here);
  
• Permanent residency (obtainable for expatriates who have lived legally and continuously in Hong Kong for seven years, with the exception of domestic helpers);
  
• A spouse (living together doesn’t count) who has a passport, permanent residency or a working visa;
  
• Your own company where you can sponsor your own visa or
  
• An employer.

In Hong Kong ninety-five per cent of the population (7.1 million)¹ is Chinese. The other five per cent is made up of Filipinos, Indonesians and other (1.6%, 1.3% and 2.1% respectively)²

Chinese people have the right to work here, but it’s still not easy to find a job. For many jobs a high level of English is required as well as the native Cantonese and Mandarin (the Chinese language spoken in mainland China). Employers can afford to be picky as there are thousands of people seeking work. A job in the civil service pays well and is secure, as is no doubt the case in many countries. Graduates, even from top universities across the world, may still struggle to find a well-paying job. A student of mine was recently telling me about the effect of SARS (2003) on the private sector. “It was like an economical tsunami,” he said. “Employers could no longer afford high wages, so they were cut. People have had pay rises since then, but a ten per cent pay rise on nothing is still nothing.”

The Filipinos and Indonesians are brought here, or find work here, as domestic helpers. Often they live in with the families they care for and work a six-day week (something that isn’t abnormal for many employees across the various industries in Hong Kong). Unfortunately domestic helpers are not allowed to apply for permanent residency, regardless of how long they’ve lived here. Neither are they eligible for the minimum wage, which was introduced to Hong Kong in May 2012 at HK$28 p/hr. ‘To hire a foreign domestic helper, you need to be a Hong Kong resident with a monthly household income of no less than HK$15,000 or assets of comparable amount to support the expenses for the entire (i.e. two-year) contractual period.’³ The Minimal Allowable Wage (MAW) for your employee is HK$3,920 per month, with various additional costs such as food, living costs and passage to and from their home country.⁴

The ‘other’ 2.1% is made up of both native and non-native English speakers. Finding work in Hong Kong is significantly easier if you’re a native English speaker. Most of these people are either bankers, pilots or teachers. There is also a large number of French people here, who organise Le French May⁵ every year. Some established foreign communities are made up of descendants of those who settled here when Hong Kong was still a British colony: Indians, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Lately there are increasing numbers of Asian expatriates, such as the Japanese and overseas-born Chinese.

Hong Kong, like any other major city, is expensive. Public facilities, services and utilities are fairly cheap, but rent is phenomenal. Medical bills can also quickly mount up. With any luck you may have certain costs covered by your company, such as housing allowance or medical fees. If not, you need to be earning a certain amount just to stay afloat.

1. www.worldatlas.com
2. www.worldatlas.com
3. www.gov.hk
4. www.gov.hk
5. www.frenchmay.com