HONG KONG - After months of political protests and the onset of a recession, Hong Kong's resilient labour market is starting to crack.
Manuel's previous employer cut salaries at first to hang onto employees, yet soon had to take more drastic steps. Things were even worse in the food and beverage sector, where unemployment hit a six- year high of 6.0 per cent. "Giving workers unpaid leave and cutting hours is employers' first response to the downturn in business revenue," she said."As I expect protest activities to continue for longer, Hong Kong's tourism, retail and dining sectors are going to see further decline in businesses."
"Some of these workers may choose not to participate in the labour force after being laid off, given that some of them might have been attracted to work because of the relatively higher wages in recent years in the first place," said Tommy Wu, senior economist with Oxford Economics Ltd. in Hong Kong.