Companies across all 11 cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are projected to offer salary increases next year on average of 3.1 percent in the two special administrative regions, and 3.8 percent in Guangdong province, a recent survey has found.

The survey also found that because most companies in the Greater Bay Area have fully or partially adopted artificial intelligence, employers’ demand for talent with both professional expertise and AI skills keeps growing. In response, human resources experts are urging young people to proactively build a hybrid skill set to stay competitive in the evolving job market.

The 2026 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Pay and Benefits Survey, jointly organized by universities and human resource associations from Hong Kong, Macao, and Guangdong province, interviewed 221 organizations, with a combined 270,000 employees, from various sectors across the three jurisdictions.

Surveyed firms in Hong Kong and Macao are projected to raise salaries by 3.1 percent on average next year. The region’s nine Chinese mainland cities — Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan and Zhuhai — would see an average pay increase of 3.8 percent, according to the survey.

Cecilia Tam Sin-yee, director of Hong Kong Baptist University’s Centre for Human Resources Strategy and Development, one of the survey’s organizers, called the 3.1 percent projection for Hong Kong and Macao a “moderate and rational” market expectation.

She said that while pay growth varies by industry, the figure shows broad confidence in business prospects, with “relatively limited” adverse factors already identified.

She also noted the emerging AI trends and findings in the Greater Bay Area job market.

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A newly added AI-focused section of the survey found that 78 percent of the region’s companies have begun testing generative AI tools, automated processes or applying AI to some operations, yet only 15 percent have formal AI policies, governance structures, usage guidelines, and risk management systems. Meanwhile, demand is growing for professionals with both industrial expertise and AI skills, including proficiencies in using AI tools, analyzing data, and turning AI outputs into business decisions.

Tam said these trends present both challenges and opportunities for young people.

She said that young people with limited work experience may not fully grasp AI’s effect on businesses, so companies should establish AI governance frameworks, including risk management, as early as possible, and to train young employees to ensure their proper use of AI tools.

For young people, companies’ stronger preference for AI technology flags a clear way. She said the importance of combined skills, urging job seekers to build a solid foundation in their professional fields while using AI to improve the quality and efficiency of their work.

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Roy Ying Fai, co-chair of the Advocacy and Policy Research Committee at the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management, said that AI technology is evolving so fast that even authorities’ AI governance remains inadequate, leaving companies in bewildering.

Ying said some industry leaders are adopting advanced practices, such as appointing a chief AI officer to coordinate AI strategy and manage risk. He said he believes insights from young employees, whom he called “AI native generations”, would be of great help when companies drafting their own governance policies.

For students seeking to enter the workforce, he advised early preparation with diverse skills and internship experience.

Ying also said technology has also lowered the threshold for young people to start businesses. For example, many are using AI to set up “one-person companies” that take on work outsourced by other firms, he said.

Ying, who is also a senior lecturer in the Department of Marketing at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, voiced strong support for students’ “micro-entrepreneurship” efforts, such as running online shops or creating contents online for business purposes.

He said that many steps are now easier with AI, while these efforts also allow students to build both industrial and AI experience before graduation.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com