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since 2022, the hong kong government has announced a series of talent-grabbing measures to attract many mainlanders to work in hong kong. as one of the most important economic pillars of hong kong, investment banking is the dream career of many people. ms. zhang (pseudonym), who came to hong kong to work in an investment bank, told the reporter of sing tao global network that she had studied science and engineering subjects in singapore and came to hong kong with a dream of finance after graduation. "at that time, finance was very popular and i had some unrealistic fantasies about investment banks, so i came." however, after working for 4 years and gaining more experience, she became one of the layoffs in the investment bank.

starting salary in 2020: over 30,000 yuan

in 2020, ms. zhang joined a chinese investment bank. she said that she joined the company at the peak of the financial industry, with a starting salary of more than 30,000 yuan, but from 2023 to 2024, the entire financial market became not so good, and the salary increase was slow. before the layoffs, the salary was more than 40,000 yuan. however, she also said that when the financial market was better from 2021 to 2022, overtime was more serious, and she once worked overtime until 5 a.m. at the latest.

ms. zhang who came to hong kong to work in an investment bank.

until the first half of this year, ms. zhang could not escape the fate of layoffs. she said, "i didn't expect it at first, and my first reaction was shocking. my second reaction seemed to be somewhat reasonable." she also said that the market is like this, and the company's business is not good, so this result is reasonable. there are more than 30 people in her department, and a total of 3 employees were laid off. after the layoffs, they were paid 3 months' salary. "at first, i felt a little embarrassed to be laid off, but gradually i found that many people were more relaxed after being laid off."

it took me more than 2 months to find a new job after being laid off

after being laid off, she stayed in hong kong and started submitting her resume again. the subsequent interviews and the small amount of savings she already had made her less panicked.

she said she is still looking for a job related to investment banking, "because experience is only recognized in this industry"; as for location, she said she will not focus only on hong kong, "to be safe, i invested in two places in shanghai and one in beijing."

about two months later, she found a new investment banking job and felt that the overall workload had been greatly reduced and the work fatigue was much less than in the past. however, many laid-off people chose to change careers, and some friends jumped from finance to shenzhen to do cross-border e-commerce. "i don't think there is much to choose from now. i'll just have an income first."

the financial sector is "very bad", the higher the salary, the more dangerous it is

regarding the financial environment in hong kong, ms. zhang pointed out that since the beginning of 2022, news of layoffs have been heard in the entire financial market, starting from foreign investment banks and gradually spreading to chinese investment banks; from 2022 to 2023, "everyone is feeling more nervous and fearful."

according to her observation, if investment banks are not doing well now, some people will definitely leave the department, and those who leave are likely to be those with relatively high salaries. she explained that investment banks will judge employees based on whether they can bring more resources or wages. "low-level employees are generally not laid off because they have the best cost-effectiveness, earn the least money but have the most work." however, the higher you go, the more the company cares about whether employees can bring in resources and customers.

she also said that the financial industry is "very depressed" now. not only is the supply of jobs limited, "the financial information gap is also being eliminated", but there are still many competitors. she pointed out that the hong kong financial industry is now only open to recruitment for two types of positions. one type is to hire people with more than ten years of work experience, who can bring a lot of resources and have the responsibility of leading a team; the second type is to offer people with three to five years of work experience at the price of fresh graduates. for people from the mainland who want to come to hong kong to work in the financial industry, she said that "their skills may not be particularly compatible with hong kong."

the mentality of hong kong immigrants is unstable, while singapore has less pressure

ms. zhang said that many of her hong kong friends are in a state of "staying here today and worrying about what will happen tomorrow", and this unstable state has a great impact on people's mood. however, her friends in singapore feel that the pressure is not as great as in hong kong, and their goals are longer-term. they basically plan their lives in units of ten years and have an attitude of living and settling down.

she explained that it might be a problem of the cost of living and the comfort of living in hong kong. although the cost of living in singapore is also high, its housing conditions and living conditions are relatively reasonable and comfortable. in addition, for permanent residents of singapore, life in singapore is relatively stable, "they will have a great advantage in finding a job", and people have no problem supporting themselves, but the expenses and income in hong kong may not be proportional.

do you intend to change careers in the future or do you want to live here for 7 years?

as for the future, she said she has the idea of ​​changing careers and may go to the united states to study for a master's degree in a year. however, as she has been working in hong kong for 4 years, she still wants to live in hong kong for 7 years to obtain hong kong citizenship.

in her opinion, having a hong kong identity allows one to live and work more freely in hong kong, and hong kong's position as a financial center is relatively strong anyway; at the same time, if one has a hong kong passport, it will be more convenient to reside in canada and other places and travel abroad.

in addition, since hong kong passports are visa-free for travel, there are many benefits for executives who need to travel on business. "if i become a boss in the future, the hk passport will have its advantages."