Media

Graduates of the year 2010 of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) secured full employment for the fifth consecutive year. The employment pattern of graduates fully reflected the economic recovery from the 2008/09 financial crisis.

1.  Summary

The Careers and Placement Section of the HKU Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) today (April 11, 2011) released the latest findings of the employment situation of its 2010 undergraduates. The key figures are:

1.1 Full employment for the fifth consecutive year (99.7%)

1.2 Business services combined with financial institutions accounted for the largest sector of employment (from 22.5% in 2009 to 27.5% in 2010)

1.3 More graduates chose financial institutions as their employment destination than in 2009 (up from 8.0% to 12.4% in 2010)

1.4 Average gross salary increased by 4.3% from $16,625 to $17,336, still not yet recovered to 2008 level ($18,755)

1.5 More graduates went for employment (from 76.1% in 2009 to 79.2% in 2010) and less opted for further studies (from 22.7% in 2009 to 19.2% in 2010)

1.6 Majority of graduates experienced good job satisfaction, fewer graduates changed jobs within six months after graduation (from 16.5% in 2009 to 14.5% in 2010)

1.7 Special note on RPG non-local graduates: significant increase for graduates returning to China for employment (from 20.6% in 2009 to 38.8% in 2010)

2.   Survey methodology

2.1 The survey was conducted in the form of questionnaires to all 4,002 full-time graduates at all levels of the University. A total of 3,504 graduates replied, representing a response rate of 87.6%. Among the Bachelor Degree graduates, the response rate was 90.5%.

3.  Employment trend fully reflected economic recovery

3.1 The survey recorded a full employment rate at 99.7% among respondents. (Table 1)

3.2 The average gross salary increased by 4.3% (from $16,625 in 2009 to $17,336 in 2010), which reflected that the job market is gradually recovering from the 2008/09 financial crisis (Table 2). Among different sectors, the highest increase was in the commerce & industry (+11.8%) and followed by the sector of community, social & personal service (+7.0%) (Table 3).

3.3 More graduates chose financial institutions (+4.4 percentage point) and fewer chose civil service (-4.9 percentage point) as their employment destination than in 2009 (Table 4). Business services combined with financial institutions accounted for the largest sector of employment at 27.5% as the financial industry recovered from the impact of economic downturn. Transport, storage & communication also experienced hiring increase (from 3.7% to 5.2%).

3.4 There was a slight increase in average job offers received by our graduates (from 2.04 in 2009 to 2.09 in 2010) (Table 5). Majority of graduates experienced good job satisfaction (76.6% in 2010, 77.0% in 2009) (Table 6). There was a slight increase in job stability this year (no job change: from 83.5% in 2009 to 85.5% in 2010) (Table 7). This could be a result of better pay.

3.5 As the economy and job market gradually recovered from the financial crisis, more graduates went for employment (from 76.1% in 2009 to 79.2% in 2010) and less opted for further studies (from 22.7% to 19.2% in 2010). (Table 1)

4.   Some features on Non-local graduates

4.1 Hong Kong continued to be the major employment destination (84.6%) for non-local graduates. However, employment opportunities in Mainland China have been becoming more attractive for non-local graduates (Table 8), despite being a relatively small number (14 graduates in 2010), there was a 100% increase as compared with 2009 (7 graduates).

4.2 Special note on non-local graduates from Research Postgraduate Programmes: significant increase for graduates returning to Mainland China for employment (from 20.6% in 2009 to 38.8% in 2010) while there was a drop of graduates staying in Hong Kong (from 76.2% in 2009 to 49.4% in 2010). (Table 9)

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Trinni Choy, Assistant Director (Media) (Tel: 2859 2606 / Mobile: 9464 3431 / E-mail: pychoy@hku.hk ), or Ms Eva Ho, Careers and Placement, CEDARS, HKU (Tel: 2859 2303 / E-mail: eva.ho@cedars.hku.hk )

For the Table 1 to 9, please visit http://www.cpao.hku.hk/media/110411table.pdf