Nearly 3 in 5 firms fear virus crisis could spur restructuring

But for now, hiring continues for 63% of companies.

Fifty-eight percent of Hong Kong’s companies are concerned that their employment may be vulnerable to possible business restructuring, according to a survey by Randstad Hong Kong. Only 42% of respondents said that they are “not too concerned” that COVID-19 will result in a company restructuring, whilst 7% said that they are “extremely concerned”.

Over three in five (63%) of firms are still proceeding with their plans to hire talent for replacement and critical roles. However, a quarter of companies have already chosen to either freeze hiring or park those headcounts until a later date.

Thirteen percent (13%) of the companies surveyed said that they will maintain headcount, but may apply other measures, such as salary adjustments and bonus suspension, to mitigate anticipated losses.

Natellie Sun, managing director, Search and Selection, for Greater China at Randstad commented, “Hiring activities are more rampant in high-growth spaces like technology, life sciences and functions within banking. However, we’ve observed a dip in hiring activities within retail, consumer, hospitality and tourism. Some of these companies may have also asked their customer-facing employees to take no-pay leave as a result of reduced foot traffic.”

Respondents from the retail and consumer industries are the most likely to feel the brunt of the outbreak. Around 7 in 10 (72%) of them expressed concern about how the outbreak will impact their employment status.

Work from home options
Sixty-five percent (65%) of respondents allowed their employees to work from home to prevent any potential community transmissions. A further 22% of employers introduced shift or split team arrangements for employees to come to the office on different days of the week. Another 4% had allowed their employees to leave work earlier to avoid peak hours.

However, 24% of respondents said that this arrangement is only a temporary measure and they will not implement a work-from-home policy as an employee benefit after COVID-19. Some 44% of respondents said that they already offer remote working as an employee benefit to either all of their staff or select employees and functions.

The ability for organisations and employees to maintain workplace productivity is still up for debate. Fourteen percent (14%) of respondents observed a sustained level of productivity, whilst another 14% of employers noticed reduced productivity, resulting in a closer review of their corporate policy.

The findings also revealed that only 8% are fully-equipped with the necessary infrastructure to support remote work.

More than half of the companies surveyed (51%) said that they will review and upgrade their digital infrastructure to ensure more effective productivity, collaboration and communication after COVID-19. Meanwhile, 34% said that they will issue laptops to their employees to enable remote working and 20% will invest in strengthening their cybersecurity network to protect their company’s data.

“Even though employers are hiring talent for new or critical roles now, companies in Hong Kong will likely take some time to adjust for real losses and recalibrate their workforce needs after COVID-19. We expect that most companies will wait until the economy starts to stabilise before they continue with their original hiring plans,” Sun added.

The survey revealed that 30% will continue to park headcount growth until the economy and business growth picks up. Only 24% of respondents said that they will begin to hire for permanent roles and contract workers to remain agile.