Hiring in Hong Kong — What are your Options?

If you’re considering hiring in Hong Kong, we don’t blame you. There are many benefits to doing business in the Asian country. A few of those benefits include:

Free economy
It’s the safest city in the world
Everyone speaks English

In addition, it’s a “Special Administrative Region” (SAR) of China, i.e., it’s not China. The country aims to keep the status quo by promoting new business and a healthy regulatory environment. Hence why many businesses seek Hong Kong for their global expansion.

If you want to build a team in Hong Kong, you have options. First and foremost, even if you choose to work with independent contractors, we suggest establishing a legal entity. If you’re new to the market and don’t need to invest in large, capital assets, use a lean expansion method such as International PEO.

Hiring in Hong Kong: Establish a Presence

Sure, you can establish a foreign subsidiary in-country but it’s expensive and takes time. It’s also very hard to exit the market if your global strategy fails to perform as planned. An option like International PEO gives your company a legal presence in Hong Kong (and more than 185 countries) and manages compliance so you can hire team members with ease.

Check out all of the benefits of a Global Expansion 2.0 option right now.

Options for Hiring in Hong Kong

Now that you know how to establish a legal presence that can help you manage compliance, you can start building your team. Before choosing your employment type, you’ll need to recruit employees.

You can use a third-party service to build your team or post your openings with the Labour Department (LD) via the county’s Interactive Employment Service.

Before posting your job or working with a recruiter, ensure you have a clear understanding of your job description. In order to find the best talent, you need to have a specific job description, fit with expectations, salary range, and benefits.

Now, let’s look into your options for hiring in Hong Kong.

Independent Contractors

We alluded to this method of hiring earlier, and now it’s time to talk about using international contractors in Hong Kong. Some companies choose to engage with freelance team members to avoid establishing a legal contract. As mentioned, this is a bad idea and puts your company at risk.

If you work with a company to help you maintain compliance, contractors can be a great option. These self-employed workers are defined by a few factors in Hong Kong labor law. These include:

Control exercised as to how and when the work is performed. Contractors must be completely autonomous.
The arrangements for remuneration and provision of equipment.
Whether the worker plays an integral part in the operation of the business.

If your contractor is completely autonomous and is not an integral part of your business operations, your company should be safe. If you’re worried about contractor misclassification, work with an in-country expert to help you navigate this working relationship.

Flexible Methods for Hiring in Hong Kong

Your new operation overseas is a startup venture for your business. As a result, it’s smart to stay flexible. An open mind and a solid global strategy will help your company avoid failure.

We suggest using services FSaaS or International PEO, which are two employers of record (EOR) services that help companies manage all of the complications surrounding the international employment process.

These flexible services can save your company time and money by helping you manage: