# Job market (communication industry) and salaries/cost of living



## Chris5031 (Mar 16, 2015)

Hi all,

I have some questions,mainly regarding the current cost of living in Hong Kong and the state of the employment market for English-speaking communication professionals. My partner and I (both British, age 30, with one young child) are considering relocating to Hong Kong from Europe. We both have backgrounds in international organisations working in the communication (editing, proofreading etc.) field and each have several qualifications in that area. I would ideally like to work in legal editing/publishing and my partner in medical/scientific editing/publishing but we would also consider more general positions in newspapers or other, less-specialised media. We have noticed in our research that there seem to be a number of interesting jobs in this area for native English speakers in Hong Kong. Generally Cantonese is listed as an advantage but not a necessity (neither of us currently speak Cantonese, we do speak several European languages but I'm not sure how relevant/useful that is!)for these jobs so hopefully that wouldn't be a big issue. Basically we were wondering:

1. What is the Anglophone communication/publishing/journalism/editing industry like at the moment in Hong Kong- is there a lot of competition and are working conditions/salaries generally good?

2. Assuming that we were each able to earn in the region of 350-400K HK$ per annum- would be be able to live comfortably? I understand that how people live is different and "comfortably" is subjective so to give you an idea, our main outgoings would be rent (we would probably choose a more expensive, modern, nicely furnished apartment that was pricey over a bargain- would this be feasible for around 20K HK$ a month? Ideally on HK island or within 20 minute commute, more or less), childcare (either a good quality nanny or a nursery) and food (we really like to eat out but are very happy to eat traditional Cantonese food at cheapish restaurants- the most important thing for us is the quality of the food, not the decor of the place). If we had any disposable income left over after the above it would probably be used to travel a bit within the region or to come back to Europe every year or two. We are not intending to drive, rather we would probably use public transport and we don't spend much on things like electronics, clothes, bars, nightclubs etc.

Apologies for all the questions but we are very curious about the current job market and cost of living and want to be as well informed as possible before making any decisions! Thanks so much in advance for any help you can give us!


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## sxmhousewife (Jun 28, 2012)

Do not mean to discourage you. 

I was in the PR & marketing industry in HK. Nowadays the communication industry has been changed lots as the influence of China market. I would say that there is not so much competition for English speaking only, in fact, there is not so much opportunities/vacancy. There is very limited demand of the English only journals or magazines even though it's always a huge demanding for English teaching.

Have you ever been in HK before? When was your last trip there? $20,000 for a comfortable furnished apartment in good location is "impossible". Try to search the local leasing online, you will see.


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## HKG3 (Jan 11, 2015)

Chris5031 said:


> (we would probably choose a more expensive, modern, nicely furnished apartment that was pricey over a bargain- would this be feasible for around 20K HK$ a month? Ideally on HK island or within 20 minute commute, more or less)


HK$ 20k doesn't go far these days when you try to rent a place in Hong Kong Island. 

Another problem is child care / school fees in Hong Kong. If you send your child to an international school, it could cost HK$ 74K per year - 

School fees for ESF primary and secondary schools | English Schools Foundation

Since you are under 31 years old, you may wish to 'try' Hong Kong's working environment using the Working Holiday visa scheme - 

Working Holiday Scheme | Immigration Department


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