Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is hosting Hong Kong Science Park Virtual Career Expo 2021 (the Expo) from 18 March till 24 March 2021, offering a record high number of 2,400-plus I&T jobs, more than double from 2020 in a show of strength for Hong Kong’s thriving I&T ecosystem.
This year’s Expo featured 100 more participating companies than 2020, with over 270 large corporations, technology companies and start-ups offering vacancies with strong demand in AI and robotics, biotech, fintech, and data and smart city. Of these positions, 85% were technology and R&D-related roles, such as AI engineers, data scientists, biomedical researchers, software developers, and UX/UI designers.
This year’s theme “The Future is Yours” reflects the once-in-a-generation opportunity for young talent to kick-start a career in innovation and technology, during a time where accelerated digital transformation has impacted all industries and spurred record demand across all sectors for tech talent, data-centric skills and capabilities.
The CEO of HKSTP said that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose challenges to various industries, but this year’s record number of job opportunities and participating companies at the Virtual Career Expo proves the strength, resilience and growth opportunity of Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem.
“This is a great opportunity for local and global talent to jumpstart their careers in a fast-growing and influential sector which will have a pivotal role in creating a better future for us all,” he added.
Industry leaders and young innovators will be joining the seven-day Expo to share views on how I&T will lead the way in shaping Hong Kong for an era of digital business and transform the way we work, live and play.
The Expo provides an opportunity for employers to attract worldwide I&T talent. Participating companies can converse with potential hires at their virtual exhibition booths on the interactive platform to hold on-demand live chats, webcasts and presentations.
Concurrent to the Expo, HKSTP is launching the second cohort of its highly successful Technology Leaders of Tomorrow (TLT) programme under HKSTP InnoAcademy.
In collaboration with over 20 leading corporations, TLT aims to nurture future technology leaders in Hong Kong. The programme offers talent a two-month HKSTP internship and then a 24-month full-time R&D role at one of the partner companies. TLT is open to applications from March 18 to April 15 for aspiring recent science or engineering university graduates.
Across the region, it is apparent that agencies and local firms are keenly searching for tech talent. According to another article, following Cyberport’s recent virtual career fair, the tech hub announced that it is debuting a new integrated I&T (innovation & technology) talent acquisition platform “iTalent” through a partnership with a community start-up in April 2021.
Available to the public, the platform aims at helping Cyberport-based employers find the right talents while providing opportunities for young people with aspirations to join the I&T industry and continuously expanding the talent pool by attracting newcomers into the sector.
Enterprises will be able to post job vacancies and receive candidate recommendations. The platform also enables enterprises to match suitable talents with job vacancies and addresses particular challenges of recruiting talents. It has also received support from 12 tertiary institutions to provide job opportunities for graduates.
Cyberport will work with the Employees Retraining Board to provide short-term work trial for people who have completed I&T-related training courses so they can gain practical experience with Cyberport companies.
“Cyberport has been endeavouring to assist those with aspirations to join the innovation and technology field to unleash their potential, and the launch of the integrated tech talent acquisition platform iTalent exemplifies these efforts,” said the Chairman of Cyberport.
He added that jobseekers, including fresh graduates from local tertiary institutions, will gain easy access to the latest market trends, and be able to look for and apply for the latest available job openings, and this can lower the costs of recruitment for employers, ultimately contributing to the acceleration of Hong Kong’s digital transformation and innovation and technology development.
