Hong Kong, Dec 8 (DPA) Nearly one in five Hong Kong companies plan to take on new staff as the city’s economy recovers strongly from the downturn, a survey found Tuesday.
Seventeen percent of employers interviewed by recruitment company Manpower Professional said they planned new hirings in the first three months of 2010.

The response, from interviews with more than 800 employers, was a six percentage point increase on a similar survey conducted three months ago when Hong Kong emerged from a year-long recession.

“This is the best set of results we have had for over a year, it is very positive,” said Ian Strutton, director of Manpower Professional.

Hiring sentiment had returned to levels last seen before the credit crunch, he said, and many of the hirings expected in the first quarter of 2010 would be new hires rather than replacements.

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate is still 5.2 percent, up from around 3 percent before the economic downturn, but stock and property prices have surged in recent months.