Summary
Comparing with three months ago, employers are a little more optimistic about the economy in Hong Kong. More respondents intend to hire staff in the coming three months. About 30% of respondents believe the economy will start to recover by the end of 2009 and this shows the confidence of employers in the economy. On the other hand, 42% of the respondents show their interest in hiring fresh graduates and most of them either prefer local graduates or they have no special preference. This finding may resolve the worry of fresh graduates that they may not be hired by employers this year and employers prefer overseas graduates rather than local ones.
Facing Human Swine Influenza, more than half of the companies have released Human Swine Influenza prevention guidelines to staff, increased the frequency of cleaning the workplace or provided adequate and proper personal protective equipment to staff. However, few companies have plans in case of Human Swine Influenza pandemic.
If the number of Human Swine Influenza cases is going to increase in Hong Kong, absence level of staff may soar. Companies should make sure they can continue to operate with a smaller head count. Employers should ensure staff have different skills to perform more than one role. Also, in case of a pandemic, companies should implement policies to minimize face-to-face contacts among staff. Customer service or sales department in companies may try to make more use of online services and transactions. Employers can also consider work-from-home policy and use video-conferencing.