Working in Hong Kong

[Annie456]

There may be an opportunity in the next 18 months to relocate to another office in the company my boyfriend works for. The popular options are currently Shanghai, Tokyo or Hong Kong. What are general working conditions in either of these cities? - working hours? holidays? weekend working? etc. My boyfriend will be working in law so any experience of working in this sector would be useful!!

[Trotbot]

Tokyo would have the longest hours, fewest holidays and highest costs. Shanghai has 3 main public holidays (Jan/Feb, May and October) each lasting 5 working days, but a lot of multi-national companies work one of the weekends to make it up and you tend to get less annual leave as a result. It is getting more expensive, but still less than Japan. HK is becoming less Western, but is still the most Western of the three. Expat rents are expensive (let's face it, they are three of the most expensive places to live as expats). HK public holidays are fewer than China or Japan, but most expats would have more annual leave (and therefore more flexibility)

It depends what area of law. China has a relatively weak rule of law, but Shanghai is one of the most dynamic and exciting places to be doing business. HK has a laws steeped in British history. Japanese law is strictly applied.

It depends on personal circumstances (do you want to work as well, have you lived abroad before, how quickly can you learn languages, how long are you likely to be away, what negotiating power for expat perks does he have). Personally, I'd go with Shanghai first, then probably HK then Tokyo. I love going to Tokyo, but like leaving as well.