The Technology Industry in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the most vibrant cities in the world. This wonderful place is primarily driven by finance, real estate, and the food and beverage industries. It’s one of the three top “Gateway-to-Asia” destinations and it hosts an ethnically diverse population. It’s also often ranked the #1 destination for expats based on pay, lifestyle, and career advancement.

With so much going on, you have to wonder why the technology sector seems to be a bit behind especially when it comes to software development and infrastructure. The talent shortage is quite astonishing. Now, I am not saying that there aren’t any good IT talents in Hong Kong. There are always exceptions to everything. On top of that, technology sales and marketing talents are while not abundant, quite sharp and globally competitive. In fact, I have met some of the most well versed and results oriented sales leaders right here in Hong Kong. The problem lies in the fact that R&D talent is where we see the biggest shortage.

It’s a chicken and egg problem. Many of my US counterparts often complain about how they are unable to move to Hong Kong as an engineer because most MNC technology companies only have sales and marketing openings in Hong Kong. Well, there’s a very good reason for that. As I mentioned, Hong Kong is primarily driven by finance which boosts the value of finance professionals. This…