Survey: Bay Area attractive for starting career

The outlook for business startups in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area remains bright for Hong Kong young people, according to an online survey released on Thursday.

The survey of 720 Hong Kong university students between March and December last year found that more than 84 percent of respondents agreed that the mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area are very attractive for them to start their careers.

The Greater Bay Area includes Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in Guangdong province — Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Jiangmen, with a population of 86.17 million people.

The survey, jointly conducted by the Youth Research Center of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp, also found that the large market size and training opportunities in the mainland cities are seen as major advantages for Hong Kong young people in business startups.

Culture, creativity, financial services, science, technology and innovation are sectors of interest for Hong Kong young people, according to the survey.

More than 53 percent of respondents said they are looking forward to starting their careers in Shenzhen, while 19 percent chose Guangzhou as their first city for work in the Greater Bay Area.

The purpose of the survey was to examine the competitiveness of Hong Kong young people in the Greater Bay Area job market, the challenges they face and feasible solutions for those looking for a career in the region to improve competitiveness.

However, 70 percent of respondents thought that young people in Hong Kong had not seen the development opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, while those who had previously visited it, took a more positive view.