HELP!!! Have been offered a job, need advice

Alec F · 09-06-2006, 11:49 AM

I have been offered a job in HK with a Cathay Pacific affiliate company. I went to the interview; they flew me up in Business Class from Australia; they wooed me with great living prospects, low tax rate,(very) limited travel benefits, ra ra. Reality kicks in now. I have to manage 25+ people in a call centre (managerial/supervisory ) duties, located in Tsuen Wan. The net salary (after superannuation and private health, but before tax) is HK$40,000 a month

I have some time to reply; but I am hesitant and have been doing research but nothing seems to match! Is HK$40K enough for a single guy to live in HK.. dont even know where (some people have been suggesting Park Island or Tung Chung), minus 14% or so tax. ..Would it be enough to be comfortable, have some money to travel and possibly save

Australian salaries in the same field are lower per month (huge tax) but living standards seem to be higher ...currently living in a nice 3-bedroom townhouse with views. Anyway... any suggestions,comments are welcome. Thanks !!!

vmlinuz · 09-06-2006, 12:26 PM

$40K is plenty for a single guy to live on very comfortably here - except that the definition of comfortable might be different from what you expect coming from Australia. Particularly, you're not going to find many single guys living in 3 bedroom places here!

I'm in a serviced studio place in Mid-levels (a nice part of town), working in Tsuen Wan (also quite nice, but in a very different and much more Chinese way), getting a car to work most days, but public transport on average maybe once or twice a week... I'm also going out, eating out, buying gadgets and other electronics, without limiting myself at all - and I'm spending well under $40k a month, also under $36k (which is about what the net post-tax amount is likely to come to).

Incidentally, if they pay your rent for you you're better off, tax-wise. In my case, since I'm in a serviced place, almost all my regular bills come under rent, which is very useful for tax purposes...

jimbo · 09-06-2006, 01:18 PM

Damn, 40 k is very good for that type of role!

If you don't want the job then I'll take it! As I have the experience etc!

Alec F · 09-06-2006, 02:17 PM

Well, I went through 3 interviews and was grilled like never before. They require a uni degree and min 10 years airline experience in similar background and knowledge od at least 3 languages... etc etc.

A friend who worked in HK before told me that all that work for 40K not worth the move from Australia. I am OK with smaller apartments/studios ... but was perplexed by his comment. How much does a seviced studio in the mid levels cost??? more than 10K a month?
Cheers guys

jimbo · 09-06-2006, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by Alec F:

Well, I went through 3 interviews and was grilled like never before. They require a uni degree and min 10 years airline experience in similar background and knowledge od at least 3 languages... etc etc.

A friend who worked in HK before told me that all that work for 40K not worth the move from Australia. I am OK with smaller apartments/studios ... but was perplexed by his comment. How much does a seviced studio in the mid levels cost??? more than 10K a month?
Cheers guys

uni degree and 10 years airline experience and three languages to run a small call centre? Ouch!

serviced studio in mid levels will cost you more than 10k a month sure.

RedKiera · 09-06-2006, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by Alec F:

A friend who worked in HK before told me that all that work for 40K not worth the move from Australia. I am OK with smaller apartments/studios ... but was perplexed by his comment. How much does a seviced studio in the mid levels cost??? more than 10K a month?
Cheers guys

But didn't you say they'll pay for your rent? 40K is plenty for a single guy to live in HK... but it depends on how much you drink.. haha

vmlinuz · 09-06-2006, 03:04 PM

Yes, a serviced studio in Mid-levels will cost a lot more than $10k a month - but mine includes (almost) all bills: rent, water, gas, electricity, internet, cable TV, landline phone with all calls within HK included, plus it comes fully furnished... I'm in a Hanlun Habitats building - their prices range from $19k to $40k, and I'm very much at the bottom of that range. It sounds like a stupid amount of money to pay - but it isn't, since on top of that, your only regular costs would be travel, food, and things like mobile phones.

I'm not saying it's the right thing for you, but it's the way I'm doing it, and in terms of month-to-month living, it's meant my living well below my means. That doesn't include things like long-distance travel or holidays, although I do have capacity for that... There are cheaper serviced places elsewhere in Hong Kong, and if you fancied living somewhere like Tsuen Wan (two nice new buildings directly across the road from my office) or Tsing Yi, you can live much much more cheaply than in Mid-levels. For me, particularly as a non-Chinese-reader/speaker, I don't think I'd want to live anywhere but on the island, but you pay a noticable premium for that.

It all depends. On $40k, you're not going to make your fortune, but unless you have much more expensive tastes than me, you can live very comfortably and put some cash aside (ah - I forgot, I've got pension coming off at source as well) for later, or for holidays etc.

Alec F · 09-06-2006, 03:08 PM

No, I dodnt say they paid for my rent; must have been some else... They were merely suggesting I live on Park Island? or Tung Chung, or someone said MidLevels too... but NO, its def NOTincluded in pay pack

larac · 09-06-2006, 06:45 PM

Vmlinuz is giving you pretty good advice.
Expect to work long hours in HK and to take a hit in living standards compared to anywhere in Australia and working out of central will have an effect on you because of commuting times and the lack of contact with people that you live close to.
They are recommending accomdation options that are far more economical than HK Island but like Vmlinuz I wouldn't choose to live anywhere other than midlevels which is of course quite a bit more expensive.
Food and going out can get pretty expensive so yes you will have a pretty good life on $40k but don't expect to go home rich.
I would probably take it for the work and life experience but there are a couple of things you could ask for;
First month free in a serviced apartment while you suss out where to live. you may then choose to stay in the apartment or more elsewhere.
Annual trip home at least which shouldn't be a problem for Cathay.
Accomodation allowance - research this a bit because you need to be careful about the wording but if you do it right you can get your rent tax free.
Know also that the first $100k is tax free
Also a thing not many companies do now but is worth asking for is to be paid 13 months salary. Because they don't have PAYE tax some companies pay a 13th month so that covers your tax bill. Many stopped doing this after SARS.
Also check on medical as it can be expensive here.
Total repatriation if you get terminated or leave after a certain period. Labour laws are a bit different here and in my first 3 months 5 people I worked with got fired - one who had just moved his entire life from France and spent a fortune setting up an apartment. Thankfully no one since.