A recent survey published in Hong Kong showed that those who have lived in Hong Kong for 3 to 5 years “love Hong Kong more the longer they stay”, with a willingness to stay in Hong Kong reaching 90%.
According to the Hong Kong Headline Daily News, the Peninsular Youth Chamber of Commerce recently released the “Hong Kong Life Adaptation and Future Planning Survey Report for Hong Kong-Drifting Youth”. It collected a total of 608 valid questionnaires from students and working youth aged 18-40 who had drifted in Hong Kong, 67% of whom had already entered the Hong Kong labour market. The results showed that among working youth, 63% planned to continue staying in Hong Kong for the next 5 years; among students, 49% clearly planned to stay in Hong Kong for the next 5 years. In addition, the willingness to stay in Hong Kong for 3-5 years surveyed reached 92%, “showing that the longer the youth resided in Hong Kong, the stronger the willingness to stay in Hong Kong”.
From March this year, the Hong Kong Government has extended the renewal window for various types of talent visas to 3 months before expiration. Liang Chaoran, Chairman of the Peninsular Youth Chamber of Commerce, suggested that the Hong Kong Government could assist in various aspects of Hong Kong‘s integration into Hong Kong, including strengthening support for Cantonese applications on campus and at work. Liang Chaoran said that the Hong Kong Government‘s existing immigration employment information platform could further integrate practical guidance on settling and living, focusing on assisting newly arrived students, and providing internship opportunities and workplace culture training, promoting their seamless connectivity to workplaces.
Hong Kong Piao Mu Xin Yi shared her experience. She said that when she first arrived in Hong Kong, she felt out of place because she didn‘t understand Cantonese. Later, she actively participated in community activities and learned Cantonese, successfully establishing a sense of belonging. She encouraged young newcomers to take the initiative to leave their comfort zone, while hoping that Hong Kong citizens would more understand the difficulties of young Hong Kong Piao in language, job search, and life.
The survey also revealed that in terms of life challenges in Hong Kong, 64% of newly arrived students thought it was mainly anxiety about job competition, 44% said they had language difficulties; while working young people were more concerned with job registration problems (46%) and life stress (31%). Liu Guotao, Chairman of the Graduate Association of Hong Kong City University, said that the main difficulty for floating graduate students in Hong Kong is renting a house. Due to the limited supply of campus dormitories, most graduate students need to rent a house outside. Take one-year master‘s students as an example. When renting a house, they often don‘t have sufficient time to look at the house in person, and most houses don’t have furniture or appliances attached, requiring them to resell or throw away when leaving Hong Kong, causing inconvenience. He frankly said that student apartments are the ideal choice at this stage, but at present the number of suitable apartments on the market is scarce.
Liang Wenguang, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said that with the development of the northern metropolitan area, the construction of talent apartments and youth dormitories by the Hong Kong Government will alleviate the problem of accommodation for young people coming to Hong Kong. Liang Wenguang said that in the future, he would recommend to the Hong Kong Government to develop a unified mobile phone app that integrates information such as registration, job search, tax and housing, and recommend the introduction of an artificial intelligence question-and-answer system, allowing Hong Kong flyers to query basic information in real time. Regarding whether the existence of Hong Kong flyers affects employment for local young people in Hong Kong, Liang Wenguang emphasized that the two should not be opposed, each has advantages, and should help both understand their strengths and provide suitable positions based on their strengths.
Zheng Tianyin, Senior Director of Strategy, Immigration Advisory, United States of America, said that this year, thanks to the optimization and promotion of programmes such as “Gao Talents”, the number of enquiries regarding talent enrollment and education increased by 30% and 35% year-on-year, respectively. Previously, customers were more expectant, but now many have begun planning for their children to study in Hong Kong or move their families, showing full confidence in Hong Kong‘s prospects.