The results of a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management shows an optimistic outlook for the job market and enterprises are under pressure to increase wages to attract talents and retain employees.

The survey, which was conducted during the first quarter of the year and involved 116 enterprises and a total of 131,000 employees, reveals a relatively high average staff turnover rate of 3.94 percent, the institute's president Lai Kam-tong told a press conference yesterday.

The retail sector recorded the highest turnover rate at 8.06 percent, followed by the business/professional services (5.79 percent) and real estate/property/construction (5.62 percent) sectors.

The average job vacancy rate was 4.6 percent while the highest vacancy rate of 7.04 percent was recorded in the telecommunications sector, followed by engineering and retail at 6.78 percent and 6.67 percent respectively.

A thriving economy prompts enterprises to expand their businesses which creates more jobs, Lai explained.

"The increase in job vacancy rate coincided with a forecast that the economy would continue to grow robustly. The 10-year low unemployment rate of 3.3 percent also plays a part in stimulating further wage growth," he commented.

Although economic uncertainties such as surging oil prices and a sluggish US economy may slow the pace of job creation in the private sector, Lai believed it would remain a top priority for enterprises to attract talents by offering higher wages and better career prospects amid fierce competition from Singapore and other neighboring countries.

Cheng Nai-yan, external secretary of the Hong Kong Department Stores & Commercial Staff General Union, agreed that the job vacancy and staff turnover rates in the retail sector were exceptionally high. He revealed that some employers had to give up on their plans to expand their businesses because they could not find enough staff.

(HK Edition 05/29/2008 page1)