Hybrid Work Sets Tone for New Normal?FutureSkills Charts a New Course for Enterprises

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HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 3 June 2021 - The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) held its first "Future of Work & Tech Experience Day" today, attracting over 100 human resources (HR) professionals and industry practitioners. The seminar also featured sharing by company executives and HR experts on future trends at work and the importance of FutureSkills.

HKPC's "Future of Work & Tech Experience Day" was kicked off by Mr Mohamed Butt, Executive Director of HKPC (centre), Dr Lawrence Cheung, Chief Innovation Officer of HKPC (forth from left), Ms Eliza Ng, Chief People and Culture Officer of HKPC (fifth from right), Ms Karen Fung, General Manager, InnoPrenuer (SME & Startup Growth) and FutureSkills of HKPC (third from left) and various executives and HR experts in the industry.

Also, at the event's "Experience Zones", participants were able to acquire first-hand experience on the efforts of HKPC Academy of HKPC to combine technologies such as drones, robots, e-sport and virtual reality with creativity and team spirit for inclusion in the training content so as to enhance the FutureSkills of the trainees, equipping them for the future.

The event also announced the results of "The Future of Work & Skills Survey". Jointly conducted by HKPC and Quokka HR between April and May this year to explore the difficulties for Hong Kong enterprises to implement remote work, the Survey interviewed over local 600 employers and employees online with the following results:

Employers

• 81% of employers think hybrid work is feasible in the future while 62% of them have plans to implement it permanently;
• Most of the respondents feel that hybrid work would increase work arrangement flexibility and develop a flexible hiring strategy, as well as reduce company cost;
• Nearly 90% of employers would include basic IT knowledge and digital skills as a "must" requirement in job hiring;
• Only 31% of employers think their workforce are equipped with the skill sets to fully adapt to the new normal;
• 56% of employers are willing to provide IT and digital related trainings for their staff
• Employers cited team communications, management and motivation as the top three challenges in hybrid work*;
• Top three IT challenges: risks of data security (58%), lack of internal IT professionals (37%) and proper IT infrastructure (34%)*
• Top five digital skills gap: big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital marketing and eCommerce*

Employees

• 93% of respondents believe hybrid work is feasible; 72% prefer it to be their future mode of work;
• Most of the respondents believe that hybrid work is a way to achieve work-life balance and half of them feel it can facilitate better time-management and cost saving*;
• Respondents in general said teamwork, homeworking and network connectivity will be their three challenges in hybrid work*;
• To cope with the new normal, 82% of employee respondents say they will need to upgrade their IT knowledge and digital skills such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud technology, etc.
• 83% expect their employers to arrange the relevant trainings in order to enhance productivity and competitiveness;
• 70% of employees would have remote/hybrid work as an important factor for consideration for their future work

* Can choose more than one option

Taking all these into account, the Survey showed that most of the employers and employees polled would prefer hybrid work, similar to the results of other surveys of the same nature conducted under COVID-19. As remote work and hybrid work are new trends during and post-pandemic, they are posing an unprecedented challenge for Hong Kong enterprises and their employees. Enterprises will need to strengthen IT infrastructure and staff training to achieve higher productivity and competitiveness.

HKPC always strives to provide support for enterprises to embark on the journey of innovation and transformation. It organises various courses on FutureSkills development to strengthen the talent pool, enabling enterprises to grasp the latest digital and STEM technologies to enhance enterprise skills and market competitiveness. The Survey reported that 82% of employees felt the need to upgrade their IT knowledge and digital skills, with 83% wishing their employers to arrange the relevant trainings. HKPC Academy will organise more related courses for enterprises and staff to better "equip for the future" under the post-pandemic new normal.

Also, nearly 60% of employers demanded technical support for data security risks. To address the potential data leakages and cyber security vulnerabilities, the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) of HKPC regularly organises cyber security seminars and releases educational videos to remind enterprises of the correct application of cloud and Internet of Things technologies to guard against cyber attacks. In the future, it will be more proactive in working for the cyber security of Hong Kong enterprises and their employees.

Mr Mohamed Butt, Executive Director of HKPC, said, "The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of enterprises around the world. With remote operation and work becoming a trend under the new normal, many Hong Kong enterprises are facing unprecedented challenges. More and more of them are aware of the importance of 'equipping for the future with FutureSkills' to enhance digital skills and industry knowledge to cope with the new future trend at work. In terms of nurturing of talents, HKPC has been sparing no effort. HKPC Academy is providing various courses on FutureSkills development to strengthen the local talent pool, helping enterprises and workers understand the latest digital and STEM technologies while enhancing company skills and market competitiveness."

Ms Eliza Ng, Chief People and Culture Officer of HKPC, said, "HKPC attaches great importance to staff training and offers training subsidies to encourage staff to achieve self-enhancement by enrolling in courses relevant to their job duties. It also collaborates with universities to provide on-the-job training for tertiary students to acquire actual work experience and explore employment opportunities in the research sector to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong. Last year, it even launched 'Winter Internship' and organised 'Smarter Talent Gala' for young people to learn about local research development and opportunities and the efforts of HKPC in promoting the development of smart city with I&T."

Ms Karen Fung, General Manager, InnoPrenuer (SME & Startup Growth) and FutureSkills of HKPC, said, "With technology being applied in various sectors, training of talents has become the most imminent task for enterprises. As the best partner in training, HKPC Academy is committed to promoting diversified FutureSkills courses, offering appropriate training for skilled and non-skilled workers. It also supports the Government's 'Matching Grant Scheme for Skills Upgrading' with a matching ratio to cap at 3:1 and 'Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme', to enable employees from various sectors to equip themselves for transformation in order to cope with future challenges at work."

For more information about HKPC Academy's FutureSkills courses, please read the attachment or visit the dedicated website: https://www.hkpcacademy.org/futureskills/.

About Hong Kong Productivity Council

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) is a multi-disciplinary organisation established by statute in 1967, to promote productivity excellence through relentless drive of integrated advanced technologies and innovative service offerings to support Hong Kong enterprises. Being a key enabler and catalyst of innovation, applied technology and value creation, HKPC facilitates Hong Kong's reindustrialisation empowered by Industry 4.0 and Enterprise 4.0, as well as to develop smart and green living applications for bolstering Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub and a smart city.

The Council is a trusted partner with comprehensive innovative solutions for Hong Kong industries and enterprises, enabling them to achieve resources and productivity utilisation, effectiveness and cost reduction, and enhance competitiveness in both local and international marketplace. It offers SMEs and startups immediate and timely assistance in coping with the ever-changing business environment, accompanying them on their innovation and transformation journey. Moreover, a variety of FutureSkills training are offered for enterprises to upskill and nurture talents with digital capabilities and STEM competencies to enhance their competitive edge.

In addition, HKPC partners and collaborates with local industries and enterprises and world-class R&D institutes to develop applied technology solutions for value creation. It also benefits a variety of sectors through product innovation and technology transfer, with commercialisation of multiple market-driven patents and technologies, bringing enormous opportunities abound for licensing and technology transfer, both locally and internationally.

For more information, please visit HKPC's website: www.hkpc.org.

About HKPC Academy

Since 1967, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) has been offering diversified industry training activities designed to upgrade and update the knowledge and skills of practitioners in different business sectors. The Productivity Training Institute was established in 2004 to better coordinate, plan, develop and manage HKPC's professional training services. In 2018, HKPC upgraded its Productivity Training Institute to the HKPC Academy, which aims to nurture a pool of talents to keep pace with the changing international markets, and to support Hong Kong's development locally and in the region.

Mission

• Strengthen training support for business and manufacturing industries to get ready for re-industrialisation and technology advancement in the Fourth Industrial Revolution;
• Equip professionals with the latest knowledge and skills in their industry through technology and skills transfer to help industries grasp the opportunities brought by the Greater Bay Area development and Belt and Road initiative; and
• Leverage HKPC's core competencies to provide innovative, advanced technological and high value-added training services to support Hong Kong's development in the areas of Smart City and Smart Industry

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