Hong Kong firms toughest in enforcing back to office in Asia: survey

HONG Kong has the highest proportion of employers pressuring their staff to work in the office regularly compared with competing hubs in Asia, according to a survey.

Over 90 per cent of firms in Hong Kong are urging their workers to increase their office presence, compared with 56 per cent of employers doing so globally, recruitment firm Morgan McKinley found in a survey.

“Simply mandating a five-day-a-week office presence would likely encounter resistance and productivity dips,” said Robert Sheffield, Hong Kong managing director at the firm in a statement. Continued adoption of hybrid arrangements is preferred, he added.

Hong Kong’s commercial landlords could benefit from the return-to-office trend, especially as the city’s office vacancies hit a record high in 2023 at more than 16 per cent. Cost-saving efforts by tenants and an oversupply have hurt the leasing market, according to CBRE Group.

The study surveyed more than 3,400 professionals and 650 employers or hiring managers globally, according to Morgan McKinley.

The rates of companies mandating returning to office policy in Australia, Japan and Singapore are under 70 per cent, while China stands at about 59 per cent. In the UK and Canada, it’s just 40 per cent, the study found. BLOOMBERG