A discussion with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks and Aerosim at the 2022 Greater Bay Area Connections conference
In this roundtable, Wen Wan, Head of WTW Work & Rewards for Hong Kong and Macau, talked to Peter Mok, Head of Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), and Mattis Tsang, Managing Director of Aerosim, about their efforts to nurture, attract and retain digital talent, and to create an environment to support their growth.
Here’s a highlight of the discussion:
Wen Wan: HKSTP has run initiatives to nurture young digital talent in the region. In your experience, what are the key attraction and retention factors among this key talent pool?
Peter Mok: As an industry player, what we’re trying to do is to attract talent from different parts of the world and different industries to join the innovation and technology sector.
In Hong Kong, as well as in other economies in Asia, many excellent young employees have been interested in joining professional markets such as banking, finance, and law. We are starting to see things change. What we’re trying to do is to attract them starting from primary and secondary schools and show them new opportunities and growth in other sectors apart from professional services and finance.
In terms of retention, no matter if it’s a large corporation or startups or scaleups, the important thing for young people nowadays is the value of the company and the industry, and whether these fit with their own value systems. Also, many young employees are not satisfied with working in just one section of the company and would like opportunities to see things from different perspectives. We need a very dynamic environment to contain them in the innovation and technology sector, one that will allow free mobility for people within the industry.
“The important thing for young people nowadays is the value of the company and the industry, and whether these fit with their own value systems.”
Peter Mok | Head of Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
Wen Wan: What do you think will be some of the most in-demand skillsets over the next one to three years in the Greater Bay Area?
Mattis Tsang: I would say software developers will be in-demand the most in the near future, especially those in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IoT (Internet of Things). The second would be anyone who can help the company scale up, to expand the business from, for instance, Hong Kong to the Greater Bay Area, a ten times larger market, or even globally. If you find talent with these skills, you need to pay them very well or they’ll be gone very quickly.
Wen Wan: WTW runs studies to find the most in-demand skillsets that are being recruited around the world. One of the top skills is cybersecurity, as well as software development, which may include program management, project management, dev ops, and even software architecture. I think that really aligns with what you’re saying.
Wen Wan: What has Aerosim been doing to attract and retain digital talent to work for you in Hong Kong? How do you make sure you can compete with the big companies for talent?
Mattis Tsang: We are competing not just with the big companies and MNCs in Hong Kong, but also with those in other parts of the world. That is the real challenge. We are very lucky to be working with HKSTP, in an ecosystem for digital talent that is similar to an incubator. This way we have more access to this specific talent pool.
In terms of retaining talent, I would say the environment we are in helps a lot. In HKSTP, everyone communicates in the same language, talks about using technology and how we can improve our products and create innovations that will impact the future, and this keeps our team motivated. We try to offer them the best we can, and make sure we work together as a team and share the vision of creating big changes for the future. And of course, we have acceleration and escalation programs to empower our key talent.
“We make sure we work together as a team and share the vision of creating big changes for the future.”
Mattis Tsang | Managing Director of Aerosim
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