A recent survey found that the trend of “slashers” (those with multiple jobs) and freelancers is becoming increasingly common among the youth, but over 85% of young people still primarily engage in full-time jobs. Among the remaining group who work part-time, nearly 15% do so to earn extra income, hoping to eventually secure a more ideal full-time position in the future.
Conducted by the private think tank “MWYO Youth Office,” in collaboration with The Asia-Pacific Institute of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the survey interviewed 506 employed individuals aged 18 to 34 from mid-July to late October in 2023. Subsequently, a focus group discussion was organized.
The survey revealed that 85.2% of the interviewed youth are primarily employed full-time, while only 14.8% do not have a full-time job. Among those engaged in part-time work, the majority (46.7%) cited the pursuit of higher income as their motivation, followed by the desire for flexible scheduling (34.7%), with a minimal percentage aiming to balance work and life (2.7%).
For young people surveyed who have higher income aspirations (earning 60,000 HKD per month), 11.2% (19 individuals) would choose part-time work. The think tank suggests this might indicate that the part-time jobs available in the current labor market offer higher wages than the full-time positions they could secure.
Regarding the actual monthly income of individuals without full-time employment, the majority earn less than 20,000 HKD, but 8.6% (10 individuals) earn 40,000 HKD or more. Among those earning between 20,000 and 40,000 HKD, 10.5% (13 individuals) fall into this category.
Analysis of the survey considered the actual salary of young people engaged in part-time work for higher earnings. More than half of them have lower incomes than the median income of young people aged 25 to 34 in 2023 (which was 23,000 HKD in the third quarter). The think tank points out that for most young people choosing part-time or self-employment to earn a higher income, it is likely that the full-time positions they could secure would pay less than 20,000 HKD.
However, young people without full-time jobs rated lower on various job satisfaction indicators, particularly in terms of dissatisfaction with the current job’s stability, training opportunities, benefits, and promotion opportunities, with the exception of higher satisfaction in work-life balance. Some respondents mentioned that engaging in multiple part-time jobs is a transitional phase towards securing a stable income source through full-time employment, giving up low-paying, less meaningful temporary jobs.
The choice of young people to engage in self-employment or part-time work is predominantly based on practical considerations and objective permissions. If industries allow young people to work in non-full-time patterns and offer higher income compared to full-time employment, this becomes a key factor influencing their choice of part-time work.
In terms of academic background, young people graduating in medical nursing are more inclined towards part-time work because this work model provides a more flexible schedule for them to earn a higher income.
The survey found that individuals with lower educational qualifications and lower income are more likely to engage in multiple part-time jobs to earn higher income when better full-time job options are unavailable. The think tank notes that these individuals generally come from weaker socioeconomic backgrounds, and the part-time positions they can handle are typically scattered job types. Even though these jobs may provide opportunities to earn higher income, they often sacrifice career development and upward mobility opportunities.
Work-life balance is identified as the top priority for an ideal job among the surveyed youth. They rated work-life balance (with an average score of 8.26 out of 10) and high income (7.95 points) as the most important ideal job conditions, while contributing to society through work (6.33 points) was considered less significant.
The survey consolidated the 10 ideal job conditions into 3 sets of values based on relevance. Overall, respondents placed similar importance on conditions related to “happiness” and “money,” with conditions related to “prospects” ranked lower in significance.
When it comes to achieving their ideal job, only 0.6% of respondents believed they have already attained it. Most respondents do not agree that simply working hard would lead to achieving their ideal job (only 26.4% agreed).
Nearly 45% of respondents respectively considered further education (43.7%) and changing companies (43.3%) as effective methods. A small percentage would contemplate working in other regions (19.4%) or changing their employment mode (13.5%), with only 5.4% of youth believing that working in mainland China would be useful.