The financial tsunami has had little impact on young workers so far, but those who are unemployed are finding it more difficult to land jobs, a recent survey has found.

The YWCA youth employment service unit conducted the study on 476 workers aged 15 to 29. Among them, 62 percent had jobs and the others were looking for work.

The economic impact on youth employment, the unit said, has yet to surface, but youths should be prepared for longer job hunts.

As surveyed, 64 percent of the job seekers found it harder to look for jobs than before, and 51 percent said the offered salaries were lower than before. In light of the financial downturn, 63 percent are choosing to further their studies, versus 23 percent who said they will continue to seek jobs but plan to lower their expected salaries.

As for young people at work, 93 percent said they hadn't been laid off or suffered a wage cut. However, 56 percent worried that the financial problems would negatively affect the possibility of a pay increase, promotion or job change.

In the opinion of Foster Lam, a supervisor of the YWCA youth employment service, the full impact of the financial downturn on young people is yet to be seen, but young people will find life harder when the economy worsens and more enterprises collapse.

As their job hunting may take much longer, he advises young people to take what work they can get and put salaries second.

At the press conference, a 25-year-old property sales agent named Billy spoke of his personal encounters with the financial tsunami. With decreasing deals, his recent salary, which comprises mainly commission from sales, has dropped about 40 percent, and he has had less to spend on food and transportation. To survive, he switched his target on rental units and parking lots when residential sales decreased.

But he was not afraid of being laid off. "If you do not do well, the axe will fall on you whether there is financial tsunami or not," he said.

(HK Edition 10/21/2008 page2)