To be honest i am leaving Hong Kong because I am not wanted here any more. HKCAD is slowly divesting themselves of expats and somebody has to be top (or bottom) of the list
. Having said that we are more than happy to be going.
I have been much stuffed around in the past having been given extremely late notification of extensions of contract and, quite frankly, my family is sick to death of not knowing what is happening. Most of the guys here, me included, are here for the money and NOTHING else. Job satisfaction and moral is almost non existent but the money is good. Social life can be OK if you are prepared to pay for it. The roster is pretty ordinary and they are currently trying to re-write it to cover the shortage of staff. (Yes, they are short staffed and yes, they are getting rid of expats - you go figgure, it's all about money I think)
So far there have probably been about a dozen expats who have left, some voluntarily some not. I came here on a three year contract 6 years ago (3 short term extensions cos they can't get their act together re staffing) and I am more than ready to leave (41 days to go...and counting
)
There is also a 5% pay drop starting in October and the accommodation allowance has dropped by more than 30% since I arrived.
As for working for SERCO, I worked for them in Bahrain before I came to the "Not So Fragrant Harbour" and had no complaints. If nothing else the roster and leave arrangements are far superior to this place. Also, my family really enjoyed living in the Middle East and I would be more than happy to return there. All I need is a job.
For those of you who are holding out for a job here, don't hold your breath. from what I have heard the finance department has told CAD that it must reduce the number of expats and no more will be hired.