Hong Kong workers received smaller pay rises this year as Guangdong’s wage growth picked up, with the starting salaries of university graduates edging closer to those of sub-degree holders, an annual survey has found.
Findings from the 2026 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Pay and Benefits Survey, released by Hong Kong’s Baptist University on Thursday, showed that companies in Hong Kong and Macau slowed pay rises this year.
The survey findings coincided with government data showing Hong Kong’s unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 3.9 per cent between July and September, hitting its highest level since the period from November last year to January. The figure was 3.8 per cent in the previous three-month rolling period, between June and August.
But Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the labour force and total employment had risen further amid “a continued influx of fresh graduates and school leavers into the labour market”.