Graduate Destinations and Employment

Employment figures for bachelor's degree graduates of The University of Hong Kong (HKU, hereafter "the University") are drawn primarily from the annual Graduate Employment Survey (GES) conducted by the Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) at HKU.
The data is time-sensitive, and careful attention must be paid to the definitions used (mean vs. median salary, gross vs. net salary, survey year vs. graduation year); always refer to the official CEDARS / HKU announcements^※ as the authoritative source.
Material compiled: June 2026.

# 0. Important notes on GES methodology

• Who conducts it: The Careers and Placement section of CEDARS at HKU conducts the survey each year among graduating full-time bachelor's degree students, and shares the results with the University Grants Committee (UGC), faculties, employers, and the media (per the CEDARS GES page^※).
• Definition of "employment rate": The GES employment rate normally refers to the proportion of graduating students who, at the survey reference date, were employed, pursuing further studies, or had otherwise confirmed their destination. It is not a simple complement of the unemployment rate; the denominator (number of respondents and response rate) varies from year to year.
• Salary figures: A distinction must be drawn between the mean monthly salary and the median monthly salary — the two often differ by several thousand Hong Kong dollars. HKU's announcements have consistently highlighted the mean monthly salary over many years.
• This article includes only overall figures published directly by HKU or CEDARS; starting salaries by individual programme (e.g. for a particular business school degree) should be consulted on the respective programme GES pages and are not itemised here.

# 1. Overall data for the two most recent years (2023 and 2024 surveys)

⚠ Always distinguish mean from median: For the 2023 survey, HKU's official announcement highlighted a mean monthly salary of HK$31,982 (an increase of 3.4% over the previous year^※), while media reports quoted a median monthly salary of HK$25,000 (according to a dotdotnews report^※) — these are two different measures, a gap of roughly HK$7,000; always specify whether the figure given is the mean or the median. A first-hand median monthly salary figure for the 2024 survey has not been obtained in this round; it is marked as "pending" and should not be replaced with an estimate.

# 2. 2023 survey details (based on HKU's official announcement)

According to HKU's 2023 GES press release^※:

• An employment rate of 98.8%, described by the University as "marking the 18th consecutive year of full employment";
• Mean monthly salary of HK$31,982, an increase of 3.4% over the previous year, and a record high at the time;
• Of the 3,578 full-time bachelor's degree graduates who responded, the response rate was 85.7%;
• 97.1% of those employed had received their first job offer by the end of December 2023;
• 96.8% of those employed were working in Hong Kong;
• The proportion pursuing further studies was approximately 22.6% (a slight increase from 22.1% the previous year).

# 2.1 Principal employment sectors (2023 survey)

According to the same press release, HKU bachelor's graduates were distributed mainly across the following sectors:

# 3. 2024 survey details (based on HKU Horizons / CEDARS)

According to the HKU Horizons article (citing the 2024 GES)^※:

• An employment rate of 98.7%; 3,792 full-time bachelor's graduates were surveyed, with a response rate of approximately 83%;
• Mean monthly salary of HK$33,492, a record high and an increase of 4.7% over the previous year, said to "once again top all local institutions";
• 98.6% of those employed had secured a job by the end of December 2024; 95.8% were working in Hong Kong.

Employer confidence: The same article also quotes a survey indicating that 99.4% of employers surveyed said they would continue to hire HKU graduates (per HKU Horizons^※); this is an employer-side survey figure drawn from a different sample than the graduate employment rate.

# 4. Multi-year trends and methodological notes

• "Full employment" has been a hallmark of HKU for many years: The bachelor's employment rate has remained in the 98–99% range for many consecutive years (the 2023 press release referred to "the 18th consecutive year of full employment"). However, this high level should not be interpreted in isolation as a sign of exceptional performance in any single year, as it is correlated with the overall Hong Kong labour market, the survey reference date, and the response rate.
• Mean salary rises modestly year by year: The mean monthly salary rose from HK$31,982 in 2023 to HK$33,492 in 2024 (a 4.7% increase). The median monthly salary has persistently been lower than the mean (HK$25,000 in 2023), indicating a right-skewed distribution (a small number of high-paying sectors pull up the average).
• Enormous variation across programmes: Starting salaries for graduates of medicine, dentistry, law, and business programmes are substantially higher than the university-wide average. For programme-specific figures, consult the respective CEDARS programme GES pages^※; this article only provides university-wide aggregate data.
• "Starting salary" and "salary six months after graduation" are different measures: The GES reference date falls around the second half of the graduation year, so the figures are close to starting salary. Caution is required when comparing with other measures (e.g. salary after several years of work).
• Limitations inherent in the survey method: The GES is a voluntary-response questionnaire (with a response rate of around 83%); the destinations of the roughly 17% of graduates who did not respond are unknown. If the proportions of unemployment or idleness among those non-respondents were higher, the officially reported "employment rate" could be subject to some degree of overstatement. This methodological limitation is not unique to HKU's GES but is a common feature of graduate employment surveys across Hong Kong's tertiary institutions. Readers should be mindful of the sample representativeness issue when interpreting claims such as "98% full employment".

# 5. Scope notes (data not yet available or pending)

• 2024 survey median monthly salary: Pending (no first-hand median figure from HKU was obtained in this round; the mean monthly salary of HK$33,492 is supported by a first-hand source).
• 2025 survey: At the time of this round of retrieval, results of the CEDARS 2025 GES had not yet been fully published; they will be added once officially released.
• Detailed starting salaries by programme/faculty: These are not covered here; see the individual programme pages on CEDARS.