Why can Hong Kong attract so many talented people through the same talent acquisition policy?
Author: Written by the real Lu Jun team
Source: The Real Lu Jun
"Do you need a Hong Kong ID card?"
Do you know where I heard this sentence? It was at the entrance of the subway station when I got off work.
I had heard about Hong Kong's various talent acquisition policies earlier this year, but I didn't expect the news about Hong Kong's settlement to permeate the Shanghai subway station now.
So I quickly checked the information and found that unconsciously,
Hong Kong's talent acquisition plan has quietly taken a big lead over many cities.
Data compiled from: Immigration Department
Not only has the approval number of various talent plans been steadily increasing,
As of February this year, it has already reached 1.6 times the number of approvals from last year, and this approval trend is still on the rise.
Image source: Hong Kong Labour and Welfare Bureau
As of June 30 this year, Hong Kong's various talent import plans have received more than 100,000 applications,
Of which about 61,000 have been approved.
It should be noted that last year, Hong Kong was only able to introduce 35,000 people, and now, in just half a year, it has already exceeded its own KPI.
When we focus more on first- and second-tier cities, how can Hong Kong attract so many people?
01 Where did the extra 60,000 people come from?
When it comes to Hong Kong's talent acquisition this year, the biggest contributor is the talent introduction plan.
The newly launched High-end Talent Admission Scheme, which was only opened at the end of 2022, and the earlier Talent Admission Scheme and Professional Talent Admission Scheme, are among them.
Among them, the most active is the "High-end Talent Admission Scheme."
In just half a year, it has already received 36,500 applications, especially 18,900 B-class applications.
Of course, here I can briefly introduce to everyone what the so-called B-class application is.
Image source: Immigration Department
The main criteria are twofold:
- Bachelor's degree from a top 100 university in the world
- Accumulate at least three years of work experience in the five years before the application
In other words, what attracts more people to Hong Kong is still these top graduates with at least three years of work experience.
In addition, there is another unexpected surprise, the Talent Admission Scheme.
The lowest approval rate is only about 21.6%.
Don't think this number is low. It should be noted that when the Talent Scheme was first implemented in 2006, the approval rate was only 14.1%.
And now the approval rate has greatly increased.
According to data released by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Immigration Department at the Q&A session on the "2023-24 Budget" in April, from 2022 to the end of February 2023,
Data compiled from: Immigration Department
The total number of approvals was 6,550, with a high approval rate of 54.3%.
This is also the first time that the number of approvals has exceeded the number of rejections.
In addition to the above methods, I have also compiled some other ways of introducing people.
Data compiled from: Immigration Department
You can see that although the numbers are only counted up to March, the total number is almost reaching the level of the first half of 2022.
With such a trend, through various talent introductions, 60,000 people can be attracted in half a year, and 120,000 people in a year.
It should be noted that in 2022, Zhejiang Province, which had the largest increase in permanent resident population in the country, only increased by 370,000 people.
More importantly, in terms of quality,
Most of the people attracted are high-quality talents from the mainland.
First of all, we need to know that, taking the most popular High-end Talent Admission Scheme as an example, the most attractive this year are
Nearly 95% are talents from mainland China.
As of the end of May 2023, more than 20,000 people from the mainland have been approved under the High-end Talent Admission Scheme.
And the talents introduced are also very young and outstanding.
Take the Talent Scheme as an example, in the 2022-23 fiscal year (as of February 2023)
Image source: Immigration Department
The 18-44 age group accounts for the largest proportion, close to 90%.
In addition, in terms of education
Data compiled from: Immigration Department
From the data, it can be seen that the proportion of approvals with education higher than "bachelor's degree or equivalent" is the highest, reaching 86.8%.
So you see, under the slogan of attracting talents from various provinces this year,
I only saw Zhejiang cancel the settlement restrictions outside Hangzhou a while ago, and now Jiangsu can't sit still.
So why can Hong Kong attract so many talented people through the same talent acquisition policy?
02 It's also because the execution is good enough
In fact, taking advantage of this topic, I carefully studied Hong Kong's talent acquisition policy, and I found that the difference from other regions is that
Hong Kong is really strong in the execution of its later policies.
First of all, the standards are clear and transparent enough
Every time I used to browse the talent system, I either felt that some restrictions were not clearly stated, or I had to flip through several web pages to find out all the information.
But when looking for Hong Kong's policy page, the process was very smooth.
Take the now most popular "High-end Talent Admission Scheme" as an example
When you want to know which are the top 100 universities in the world
Image source: Immigration Department
You don't need to browse extra pages, just a light touch, and it will automatically jump to the page with the list of schools.
For example, when you are not sure how to prove that your annual income exceeds HK$2.5 million
Image source: Immigration Department
It will directly tell you that you can submit it electronically or through the applicant's employing company to the local authorities (such as the tax office or tax department) to resolve it.
Even the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate has been taken into account
And the approval results are also very transparent
Image source: Immigration Department
The results will be directly announced on the relevant website and written notices will be issued.
From the definition of the conditions at the beginning of the approval, to the possible problems that may arise during the process, and finally the public announcement of the results
It is these details that make us feel that Hong Kong's attitude towards attracting talents is very clear:
As long as you meet the standards, you can apply
But this alone is not enough. If it's just about setting standards, I believe many cities can be meticulous enough.
What surprised me even more is that Hong Kong is also superior in terms of speed and convenience in the process.
Second, the process is fast and convenient enough
In terms of approval time
Image source: Immigration Department
The fastest can be processed in about four weeks.
The most significant change in process optimization is still the Talent Scheme.
Table compiled from: Galaxy Group
The main changes are twofold
On the one hand, the application process has been simplified as much as possible
The original interview process has been canceled, and even the submission of documents can be done electronically. The proof of whether or not there is a criminal record has also been canceled.
Including the entire period of the previous Hong Kong Talent Scheme application was about 9-12 months, and now it can be as short as 5 months.
In addition, there is now a quota of 2 years without restrictions
From the original 4,000 per year, starting from January 1, 2023, the annual quota limit has been lifted for a period of 2 years.
In other words, you can apply for talent introduction more conveniently and without quota restrictions.
Third, it even tries to help you expand the standards
For those who want to enter Hong Kong through excellent professions, an updated talent list was announced on May 16 this year, expanding the covered professional categories from the original 13 to 51.
@Honghu Immigration Expert Ivy
As long as it belongs to the industry on the talent list, when applying for the Hong Kong Talent Scheme, you can receive an additional 30 points in the comprehensive scoring system.
Including just this July
Image source: Internet
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam publicly announced plans to further relax the application threshold for the "High-end Talent Admission Scheme":
Non-graduates from top 100 universities worldwide can also apply.
If this adjustment is implemented, I believe that the influx of people into Hong Kong will become even more crowded.
03 So why is Hong Kong desperately trying to attract talent this year?
In fact, it is also related to the current population changes in Hong Kong.
Let me show you a very crucial point in time, 2020.
Data compiled from: Hong Kong Government Census and Statistics Department
At the end of 2020, the temporary population of Hong Kong was 7.4742 million.
Since then, the population of Hong Kong has continued to decline for three consecutive years.
For example, in terms of the birth rate in Hong Kong, the number of births dropped significantly from 52,900 in 2019 to 32,500 in 2022.
This was the lowest since 1961.
The decrease in population has also led to a shortage of labor force.
Especially in the aviation industry, the vacancy rate was highest in March 2023, reaching 13.3%, equivalent to 1 vacancy for every 10 positions.
Next is the residential care services industry (9.1%) and the accommodation services industry (7.4%), among others.
Moreover, the attractiveness of the mainland to Hong Kong is constantly increasing.
According to the latest figures from the Hong Kong Immigration Department, the number of Hong Kong residents traveling to the mainland reached 4.68 million in July.
In other words, more than 160,000 people went north in a single day.
Image source: Real Hong Kong
Not only is the number more than twice that of mainland residents traveling to Hong Kong in July (2.75 million times), it is estimated that they also spent a whopping HK$4 billion in the mainland.
Especially for friends in Shenzhen
Image source: Xiaohongshu
Whether it's shopping at malls, dining at restaurants, or drinking milk tea, you can see many Hong Kong people with their suitcases.
In the past, everyone loved to shop in Hong Kong, but now
It's actually the people from Shenzhen who are starting to shop in Hong Kong.
With a decreasing birth rate on one hand and an increasing attraction from the mainland to Hong Kong on the other, can Hong Kong not be eager to attract talent?
04 Of course, it's not just Hong Kong that is so urgent
Including the recent relaxation of household registration in Zhejiang and Jiangsu areas
For a long time to come, attracting talent will definitely be the main theme for all cities.
But when we are inundated with many talent policies
When we look back, those cities that ultimately stand out, such as Hong Kong, are really laying out their policies for you to see.
First, it's a combination of various talent plans
High-end Talent Admission Scheme, Professional Talent Admission Scheme, Talent Admission Scheme…
Then there is the continuous adjustment of restrictions, canceling interviews, canceling quotas, and even the website browsing is very clear and straightforward.
I remember when I was browsing through the information, I found a rather special case.
Image source: Hong Kong 01
It's a Shenzhen mother over the age of 35.
At 3:00 am on January 5, 2023, she submitted a High-end Talent Admission Scheme application online, and two days later, she was approved by the Hong Kong Immigration Department.
Then in mid-March, she obtained a Hong Kong ID card, and in May, she even received an offer that exceeded expectations.
We say that policy and policy execution are actually two different things, and now Hong Kong can receive over 100,000 applications in just half a year.
I believe it's because Hong Kong, as a city, has shown enough sincerity.
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