OH, SAY CAN YOU SEE?
Hardship allowance in Hong Kong?
By Courtney Siu

One day soon, your company may have to begin paying expatriates a hardship allowance to relocate to Hong Kong. Hard to believe? Of course. Hong Kong has a lot to offer – its career opportunities and business prospects remain strong. But in recent years the levels of pollution have continued to increase to the point where low visibility, defined as visibility below 8 kilometers when there is no fog, mist, or rain, has reached record highs for all months in Hong Kong. It is hard to measure the impact of what is arguably a ‘grey’ area on Hong Kong’s ability to attract talent, but one company that has made an attempt is ECA International, a global provider of online data, software solutions, and advice on international HR management.

According to ECA’s annual survey, which covered 257 cities around the world, for the first time ever, Hong Kong has fallen into what ECA calls ‘category B’. That is, the category for cities that have become less desirable for expats and as such may require companies to pay them a hardship allowance to relocate there. For Asian expats, Hong Kong ranked a miserable 32nd in the ranking, which takes into account crime, climate, and other health-related issues. Singapore ranked first. In rankings for Western expats, the “world city” as it likes to call itself, came in at number 66. The survey can assign total penalty points of 330 to a city, 20 of which are allocated to pollution. Hong Kong scored 14 for its pollution levels; Singapore was assigned just two. Other factors that drove Hong Kong down in the rankings included both the threat of infectious diseases and recent food scares.

Despite all the bad news, Hong Kong remains the top destination for anyone wanting to reach the golden market up north. Mainland cities still rank below Hong Kong across the board, and the pollution there is generally worse than Hong Kong’s.