Hong Kong firms invest in AI proficiency despite employee training budget cuts

Hong Kong firms cut budgets for employee training amid economic uncertainties last year, but training hours increased in an effort to make staff more proficient with new artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

The findings were announced on Wednesday by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management, based on a survey of 115 local companies and organisations across 17 industries.

The survey, conducted between January and April, aimed to understand the staff training needs of Hong Kong employers last year.

In 2024, employee training budgets accounted for 4 per cent of the total annual base salary for the surveyed employers. This represents a 0.3 percentage point decrease from the previous year, although the figure remains above the pre-pandemic level, which hovered around 3.4 per cent.

Actual training expenditure was 3.1 per cent of the annual base salary, down from 3.8 per cent in 2023.

“The economic situation in Hong Kong and around the globe was not certain and not ideal,” said Chester Tsang Wing-cheong, co-chairman of the institute’s Learning and Development Committee.