Whispering a fond adieu

The strength will be maintained through complementary cooperation between Hong Kong and the Bay Area, he says. For one thing, Hong Kong boasts world-class universities that are in the best position to help the Bay Area cultivate talent and professionals. For the other, there's a scant supply of finance talent in the Bay Area, while there's likely to be keener demand for fundraising, company listings and investment, given there're a lot of startups there.

"I believe Hong Kong, as a go-to free trade port, will just fill the void, continuing to lure budding entrepreneurs and unicorn startups from the Bay Area to come here," Chong says. By the same token, Hong Kong will continue to appeal to companies from the Bay Area or overseas aiming to set up offices in the city, he says.

He urged Hong Kong entrepreneurs to leave their comfort zone and seek opportunities in the Bay Area, where there's more room for growth. Hong Kong's sky-high land prices are unfriendly to startups, he says. "A sizable area is key to a company's success which is a matter of teamwork. But Hong Kong's expensive land can hardly provide that. The mainland market is more diverse and broader."

But he admits there're often misgivings among Hong Kong entrepreneurs about matters like unfamiliarity with mainland culture, the language barrier and reduced access to Hong Kong websites that discourage them from going.

Once these issues are cleared, more Hong Kong entrepreneurs will be keen to climb aboard the Bay Area bandwagon. "The ultimate answer is to provide a micro Hong Kong culture within the Bay Area — a feel-at-home wow factor to Hong Kong people."

Stuart Gietel-Basten, professor of social science and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, suggests that sourcing talent from outside Hong Kong helps mitigate the talent deficit. A more sustainable answer is to train people locally and incentivize local graduates to work in less popular areas where they're desperately needed.

"We've eight world-class universities churning out outstanding graduates. But why is that many of them still find it hard to secure a job although the construction and elderly caregiving sectors are so short of workers?" Gietel-Basten says. These jobs, although far from being respectable, are in demand. There're exponentially growing areas where there's an acute shortage of young labor, he says.

What Hong Kong needs to do is to "professionalize" these "under-appreciated" trades and pay people properly to lift the image and value of these professions. The aim is to pique local graduates' interest in these marginalized occupations.