Senior job ad volume down 7% in 4Q 2010

The decrease in volume was due to a recruitment slowdown in preparation for budgetary planning and bonus schemes, coinciding with the holiday period.

According to Robert Walters Asia Job Index, the number of job advertisements placed in Q4 in Hong Kong decreased by 7% compared to Q3. This was largely due to a recruitment slowdown in preparation for budgetary planning and bonus schemes, coinciding with the holiday period. Despite a downward trend across most sectors in Q4, IT services saw a 6% rise in job advertisements following increased demand for new financial trading platforms which provide greater efficiency in a competitive market. Retail services have similarly seen an increase of 2%, reflecting increased consumer confidence. Property management, which saw one of the largest decreases from Q3 to Q4, has been affected by the Hong Kong government’s efforts to curb the property boom with increased stamp duty in November. Both legal services and administration also reported decreases; however both sectors still maintained significant year on year growth from 2009 to 2010 due to increased corporate activity over the past year. The IPO market in Hong Kong has also been very active, further fuelling demand.

Matthew Bennett, Managing Director at Robert Walters Hong Kong, comments: “In the last quarter recruitment levels across most sectors have slowed down in the run up to Christmas. Despite this anticipated decline, we have still seen strong year on year growth across the economy. The increase in activity levels and consumer confidence over the past year has significantly boosted the demand for support function in particular and we expect to see a recruitment revival in the next quarter as confidence in the market continues to build.”

A total of 376,198 job advertisements for professional positions came in for 4Q 2010.