‘Don’t have the illusion’: graduate job ads down 22% as AI rewrites the rules

Fresh-graduate job postings in Hong Kong fell 22 per cent in the first nine months of this year from the same period in 2025, according to data from one of the city’s biggest job-search platforms, with an industry leader warning that advances in technology will deepen the decline.

Its data also showed more graduates chasing fewer jobs: a typical listing for graduates drew 56 per cent more applications than a year earlier.

Yet about 85 per cent of the 298 companies Jobsdb surveyed in August and September said they would be willing to hire fresh graduates next year.

“It is more challenging for fresh graduates to find a job,” said Bill Lee Chern-hsing, managing director of Jobsdb by SEEK in Hong Kong. “However, it does not mean that they have no opportunities … but definitely the job requirements are more challenging.”

According to the survey, 56 per cent of employers focused on soft skills, followed by interview performance and work experience.

About 70 per cent of multinational enterprises said interview performance mattered most, while Chinese-owned companies placed more emphasis on work experience than other types of employers.

Lee advised students to take internships and sharpen their soft skills – communication, teamwork and analytical skills – to meet employers’ expectations.

Alexa Chow Yee-ping, managing director of human resources consultancy ACTS Consulting, said the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) was making it harder for graduates to find work.

“The demand is getting weak, and I believe it will not change in a short period, as it is not a problem only faced by Hong Kong, but the whole world,” she said.

“Do not have the illusion that the situation will get better. It may get worse because technology is developing faster and its capabilities keep growing.”

Chow advised graduates to acquire AI skills through their universities or certificate courses and to consider fields less vulnerable to automation – particularly those requiring a human touch, such as sales, psychology and counselling.

Jobsdb’s survey also found that 73 per cent of companies would include AI skills in their recruitment requirements next year and that 54 per cent of those would place significantly more emphasis on AI skills than this year.

On the wider market, 73 per cent of companies polled expected the employment market in 2027 to be about the same as, or more active than, in 2026. Some 64 per cent planned to maintain or increase headcount next year, while 48 per cent expected to raise their employment budgets.

“The survey findings suggest that employers remain cautiously optimistic about 2027, with the job market having the potential to recover gradually,” Lee said, adding that AI skills had become an important hiring consideration for most employers.