Hong Kong's University Grants Committee (UGC) recently released a statistical survey on the employment situation of bachelor's degree graduates from the city's eight publicly funded universities for the 2023/2024 academic year.
The results showed that the average annual salary of graduates from these eight institutions last year reached HK$329,000, equivalent to a monthly income of nearly HK$27,500, setting a record high. Among them, the average annual salary of graduates from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) surpassed the HK$400,000 mark for the first time, exceeding HK$401,000, with an average monthly salary of approximately HK$33,492.
In terms of salaries by discipline, graduates in medicine, dentistry, and nursing once again topped the list as the most lucrative fields, with an annual salary of up to HK$540,000. The average annual salary for graduates with a Bachelor of Social Sciences increased by 9% to HK$300,000. A human resources consultant interviewed by Wen Wei Po mentioned that careers related to social sciences are closely tied to current societal demands for stress relief and emotional support, making them difficult to replace with artificial intelligence (AI) in the short term, thus maintaining competitive salary levels.
The latest survey data from the eight universities, as of Dec 31, 2024, covered 21,058 full-time bachelor's degree graduates, with 18,440 responses received—a response rate of about 87.6%. Among them, 70.8% were employed full-time at the time of the survey, while 16.8% were pursuing further studies.
Average annual salary
The survey revealed that the salaries of graduates from the eight universities in the previous academic year continued to grow steadily, with an overall increase of 4.8% compared to the 2022/2023 academic year, reaching an average annual salary of HK$329,000. HKU graduates had the highest average annual salary, exceeding HK$401,000. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Education University of Hong Kong (HKEdu) followed closely, with average annual salaries of HK$381,000 and HK$348,000, respectively (equivalent to monthly salaries of approximately HK$31,700 and HK$29,000).
In terms of year-on-year salary growth, HKU graduates also led, with their total average annual salary rising by 4.7%. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) saw an increase of about 4.4%, reaching HK$306,000; Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) rose by approximately 3.9% to HK$269,000; and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) increased by 3.1% to HK$330,000. Among the eight universities, only HKEdu graduates recorded a decline in average annual salary, dropping by about 4.1% compared to the previous academic year.
An HKU spokesperson stated that the university's bachelor's degree graduates performed exceptionally well in the job market last year, achieving a record average monthly salary of HK$33,492, with an employment rate as high as 98.7%. Among the 3,792 full-time bachelor's degree graduates, 83% participated in the survey. A remarkable 98.6% of graduates secured their first job by the end of December last year; additionally, 95.8% of graduates remained employed in Hong Kong, while the proportion pursuing further studies remained stable at 22%.
The spokesperson also noted that the business sector remained the primary employment field for graduates, accounting for 45.9%. The proportion joining the government increased from 14.4% the previous year to 16.8%, while those entering social and personal services slightly decreased from 23.3% to 21.2%.
Sharp decline in full-time positions
Despite economic fluctuations creating uncertainty in the job market—with the number of full-time positions in the Joint Institution Job Information System (JIJIS) dropping by over 9,400 (a 38% year-on-year decrease) in 2024—HKU graduates still ranked at the top in various employment metrics.
Furthermore, the UGC survey showed that the unemployment rate among graduates from the eight universities in the previous academic year rose by 0.4 percentage points compared to the year before, reaching 2.4%—the highest level since 2019/2020.
By university, the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) had a higher rate at 5.4%, while HKUST and HKEdu recorded rates of 3.2% and 2.8%, respectively. As for underemployment—defined as graduates working fewer than 35 hours per week or in part-time or temporary roles—the rate across the eight universities fell by 0.6 percentage points to 4.2% compared to the previous academic year. Lingnan University (LU) had the highest underemployment rate at 8.9%, while HKU, HKUST, and PolyU recorded rates of 5.9%, 5.2%, and 4.2%, respectively.
Expert: Computer engineering and data science 'will be more lucrative'
Dr. Felix Yip Wai-kwong, Associate Director of the Centre for Human Resources Strategy and Development at HKBU, told Wen Wei Po that careers in social sciences, such as psychotherapists and social workers, are people-oriented service roles that are difficult to replace with AI. These fields have promising prospects and are among the highest-paying disciplines after "prestigious" fields like medicine and education-related degrees.
He added that with the SAR government actively promoting the development of the technology industry and advancements in AI, graduates in computer engineering and data science-related fields are expected to receive more competitive salaries in the future.
(Source: Wen Wei Po; Journalists: Keung Kar-hin, Hong Zekai; English Editor: Darius)
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