Attracting Talent Requires Enhancing the Competitiveness of Local Youth and Enterprises

Talent is a crucial asset for the development of any region. Amid the global trend of competing for talent, the Hong Kong government must help various industries build an environment that identifies, retains, and nurtures talent. Only then can new economic value be created for society, which is essential for maintaining Hong Kong’s competitiveness.

With the rollout of major projects such as the Northern Metropolis, transportation, and housing developments, the construction industry faces a strong demand for workers. At the same time, resource constraints have become increasingly apparent.

As a key driver of economic growth, Hong Kong’s construction industry is expected to reach an annual project volume of approximately HK$300 billion over the next decade, making it one of the pillars of the local economy. However, the industry requires substantial long-term investment and faces various risks, including safety, staff training, equipment, and technology imports. Policy support remains insufficient. Compared to high-value industries like finance and real estate, construction has lower profit margins and declining productivity due to an aging workforce, leading to a talent gap and generational disconnect. Although project volume is currently high, manpower shortages are hindering development and reducing competitiveness compared to other major cities.

Another factor affecting competitiveness is that many large-scale infrastructure contracts in recent years have been awarded to non-local contractors, nearly monopolizing the market. Local SMEs struggle to compete due to limited resources and are gradually shrinking. Reports indicate that between 2010 and 2019, there were about 53 infrastructure projects in Hong Kong worth over HK$1 billion. Only six were solely awarded to local contractors, totaling around HK$6.4 billion—just 2.4% of the total value. This has prevented local contractors from gaining experience through large projects, expanding their business scale, and undertaking more complex projects in the future, let alone participating in world-class international projects.

The government’s tender scoring system emphasizes contractors’ past experience and performance, favoring large firms. New and SME contractors, lacking opportunities to participate in major projects, face high barriers to entry, creating a vicious cycle. Moreover, many foreign company employees leave after completing projects, contributing little to local talent development and technology transfer. The shortage of highly skilled workers and the monopolization of projects hinder the cultivation of engineering management professionals, which is detrimental to the industry’s long-term development.

To address these challenges, I believe the priority should be improving the business environment and helping local contractors—especially SMEs—gain qualifications in advanced construction technologies. For example, following overseas practices, non-local contractors bidding for certain Hong Kong projects could be required to form joint ventures with local firms. This would help young professionals gain experience in large-scale projects and provide upstream opportunities for local contractors.

Secondly, I suggest the government plan future project timelines and roll out projects in an orderly manner. Simplifying current land development and project approval procedures would stabilize project volume and help the industry prepare effectively. The government could also assist local SMEs in “going global” by participating in overseas projects and offering support in legal, regional networking, and financial areas to enhance enterprise competitiveness.