Basics of working in Hong Kong

A foreigner can only enter Hong Kong on a tourist visa if he does not have a job in the territory. Most expats would already have a job lined up in Hong Kong before moving to the city. This will enable them to obtain an employment visa. The Hong Kong immigration department sometimes approves work visas for people already in Hong Kong but this is considered to be an exception. It is recommended to apply for an employment visa before you relocate.

Job Search

No public bureau specialises in job searching for expats, but you could try approaching the Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong of your country of origin.

Jobs can be found through online job sites, local newspaper classifieds, and trade magazines. Look out for the Thursday and Saturday editions of newspapers for expanded classified sections.

Online job sites you can seek out are:

• JobsDB Hong Kong
• Monster Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Recruit

An English newspaper that has job classifieds is:

• South China Morning Post (Saturdays)

Holidays and Days-off

Most multinational companies do not work on Saturdays and Sundays while some local businesses work on Saturdays. Working hours tend to be long in Hong Kong and you may be required to work on Saturdays as well. The regular work week in is 44 to 48 hours. Employees are usually entitled to seven to fourteen days of annual leave.

Note that some of the dates of the public holidays vary from year to year because the dates are computed according to the lunar calendar.