What is happening to salaries?!

[pizzaMui]

Are salaries in HK dipping too low? I realize the economy is recovering, but the average monthly rate is even lower (by half) of what it was 3 yrs ago. A friend had sent a recent job description to illustrate; a multi-media production staff position with skills in design, video, and programming only pays HK$5K/month.

That is skimpy. For that amount of knowledge and experience in the US, upwards of US$80K would be expected. It's really frightening to go back if this is the going rate these days. Are there any encouraging news about the job market situation??

[KnowItAll]

You've got to keep in mind that people in HK are competing with their brethren in China for jobs like the one you described.

US$80K for a multimedia production job??!? Doubt it.

For encouraging news.. talk to the drones in investhk and uncle tung's office. For realism .. continue posting here.

[Max]

Dipping?? Aren't they low enough? especially when freshies are willing to work for minimum wage to gain experience.

[Botox]

Yes, it's scarey. In the media industry (design, computing, PR, music, laa dee daa) salaries in the UK are at least three times those in Hong Kong, probably moreso at higher positions.

I don't know how young people in Hong Kong survive. They must have to keep living with their parents until they're in their 30s or something.

Doesn't the government realise, paying people less means less money for people to put back into the country? All it can lead to is Hong Kong being royally fucked. Not sure what they can do about it with China on the doorstep though.

[KnowItAll]

>> government mandated wages

The US of A.

[GraemeK]

I agree with Paul. in our business (also in media sector) the new hires are working for peanuts. They need the experience, we need to make profits. Simple supply and demand. When they egt experienced and if they are good, then we might promote them, otherwise it is time for new hires.

I will go so far to say that in the 'good old' days the salary bubble was far too inflated.

[Lammarite]

People always whinge how the government sholuld do this and do that when they feel they are not getting a good deal. To expect the government to support your salary is outrageous. You are a visitor in this country and if you are not happy with your salary because a local can do it cheaper then piss off back to your own country and start bouying up your own economy.
I was flown to Beijing for a job interview in a large multinational exhibition company for the China Creative Director position and once I told the CEO what salary I wanted, he told me that they recently held interviews in Hong Kong for designers in their Tsing Tao office working 6 days a week for 7k per month, they had queues going around their building of applicants who were willing to uproot themselves from Hong Kong and their families and go and live in an outpost of China where shipping is the main industry and it takes about 8 hours to fly to Hong Kong via Beijing. he asked me why he should employ me when he could employ several other people at a fraction of the cost and make it up with numbers. You have a quantitative not qualitative mindset much of the time. That is what you're up against. You have a trickle down effect in media, when times get tough, the first thing accountants do is cut advertising and marketing budgets, which trickles down to internal departments, which trickles down to ad agencies, which then trickles down to advertising production companies..... Each time it trickles down the profit potential is cut exponentially and that trickles down to staffing and salaries.
In summary, damn all accountants to hell. It is them not the government you should blame!

[knarknark]

An accountant told me that they should be running the HR department because they can do proper analysis of an employees worth vs costs; apparently they've put a finance guy in charge of HR at AIA etc????

Scary thought.

At the end of the day you are right. Blame the accountants and God help us if they get put in charge of HR!