Hong Kong is facing an exodus of educated workers on a scale not seen since the early 1990s, that is impacting the city’s many functions, including auditing services.
According to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Hong Kong’s audit regulator, the emigration of experienced staff has resulted in a shortage of qualified auditors in the city, seriously impacting its audit work.
Although the Inland Revenue Department has denied there is an emigration wave and claimed in a press release that no direct statistics are available to support the supposition, ample evidence suggests otherwise.
People (bottom) waving goodbye on July 22, 2021, as passengers make their way through the departure gates of Hong Kong’s International Airport. Twice a day Hong Kong’s virtually deserted airport fills with the sound of tearful goodbyes as residents, fearful for their future under China’s increasingly authoritarian rule, start a new life abroad, mostly in Britain. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)
“High staff turnover and loss of experienced staff create operational inconveniences, impact staff morale and productivity, and eventually affect the firm’s audit quality and services,” according to FRC’s 2021 annual inspection report (pdf) released on Jun. 23….