62% of Hong Kong banks say temporary staff increased

This is since the global financial crisis.

According to a survey by Robert Half, financial services firms in Hong Kong have increased their use of interim and temporary staff in an attempt to manage costs.

The majority (62%) of those polled said that their company’s use of interim or temporary staff had increased since the global financial crisis, showing the continued necessity Hong Kong businesses have to engage interim human resources to augment permanent staff. This was most pronounced in medium sized businesses, where two thirds (66%) of financial services leaders said there has been a significant shift towards using interim and temporary staff.

Ms. Pallavi Anand, Director of Robert Half in Hong Kong, said: “It comes as no surprise that financial services companies have increased their skilled interim and temporary workforce. Businesses are relying more heavily on a flexible workforce to access specialised skills that either do not exist amongst their permanent employees or are needed for projects. These include project financing, outsourcing of processes, or acting as interim managers while a new operation is set up. It makes completes business sense.

“Many companies faced a tough lesson on the consequences of over-hiring and were forced to make mass redundancies in the past. Now, they are bringing in a mix of permanent and temporary professionals – which gives them the flexibility they need to cover the workload. In addition, hiring the wrong person can be a costly mistake for businesses, so many see their temporary staff as giving an on-the-job audition.”