Hong Kong's Gold Trading Push Faces a Shortage of Skilled Professionals

A trading vacancy exposes Hong Kong's gold challenge

Eight months after Bank of China (Hong Kong) advertised for a precious metals trader fluent in English and Mandarin with at least five years of experience, the position remains unfilled. As of August 31, 2025, that vacancy captures a central problem facing Hong Kong's effort to rebuild its position as a global gold trading centre: the city needs experienced people as urgently as it needs vaults, trading contracts and investment.

Hong Kong is pursuing that ambition with backing from Beijing and renewed interest in gold as prices reach record highs. The city is investing in infrastructure, regulatory reforms and international partnerships to attract bullion traders and investors. Bullion means physical precious metal held and traded in forms such as bars.

Hong Kong's advantages include its location between international markets and mainland China, its established financial infrastructure and its proximity to the world's largest gold consumer. Its longstanding role as a gateway between East and West gives it a foundation for connecting Chinese demand with international trading businesses.

Banks nevertheless struggle to recruit the specialists needed to turn those advantages into a larger gold business. Competition from Singapore and London makes the task harder, while employers also face difficulties attracting and retaining professionals who can work across languages, markets and different corporate cultures.

The challenge reaches beyond the person buying or selling gold. Physical bullion trading requires people who can arrange procurement and delivery, manage financial risks, meet regulatory requirements and maintain the digital systems supporting transactions. Expanding those activities means building several kinds of expertise at the same time.

Why the available talent pool is small

Bank of China (Hong Kong)'s recruitment requirements show how specific the demand can be. Language skills and substantial trading experience must come together in one candidate, and experience at global banks is often a prerequisite for similar positions.

Physical gold trading also involves a chain of practical responsibilities. Procurement means obtaining the metal; logistics means arranging its movement and storage. Risk management addresses possible losses, while compliance involves following the rules that apply to the business. A trader working with physical bullion needs to understand how those responsibilities affect each transaction.

Hong Kong's education and training systems have not kept pace with the changing demands of commodities trading. Commodities are traded goods and raw materials, including metals. Relatively few local professionals have the experience employers need, leaving banks looking overseas to fill positions.

Recruiters and industry participants identify several overlapping recruitment problems:

• Specialist roles require knowledge of procurement, logistics, risk management and compliance, often alongside bilingual ability and experience at global banks.
• The local pool of experienced commodities professionals is limited, increasing dependence on international recruitment.
• International banks and trading houses can offer more attractive salaries and relocation packages than employers based in Hong Kong.
• State owned Chinese banks have internal cultures and rules governing overseas postings that can discourage candidates.

Those posting rules can include limits on assignments, restrictions on resignation and requirements to repay allowances. For a prospective employee, the terms of moving to Hong Kong therefore involve more than a salary comparison.

Banks are searching in Singapore, London, mainland China and Dubai. Competition for experienced traders is intense, and hiring staff away from rival banks has become commonplace. The shortage is particularly acute in risk management, compliance and digital infrastructure, all of which support modern gold trading operations.

Industry concerns extend beyond individual vacancies

Industry leaders warn that Hong Kong could lose ground to rival financial centres without focused efforts to develop a continuing supply of skilled people. Recruiting someone for an immediate vacancy is one task; creating enough experienced professionals to support a growing market is another.

A commodities market professional, whose name was not given, described the concern in a LinkedIn post:

Despite its strategic location and infrastructure, the city is struggling to attract and retain professionals with the expertise needed to support large-scale commodities trading. Without targeted efforts to build a talent pipeline through education, incentives, and international recruitment, Hong Kong risks losing ground to rival financial centers.

The warning connects recruitment with the scale of Hong Kong's ambitions. Banks and trading companies need staff capable of supporting larger volumes of business, while the city needs enough opportunities and training to help less experienced professionals develop those skills.

Hong Kong also faces a retention problem. Local professionals can be drawn to opportunities abroad, meaning international recruitment must happen alongside efforts to keep existing talent. Bringing people into the city and persuading them to build careers there are closely connected parts of the same challenge.

Beijing's ambitions give Hong Kong a strategic role

China is the world's largest supplier and buyer of gold, and Beijing wants greater influence over global bullion pricing. Hong Kong's planned expansion forms part of that wider ambition to strengthen China's position in international gold markets.

The Shanghai Gold Exchange has introduced new contracts designed for international investors and established a bullion vault in Hong Kong. The contracts provide trading arrangements aimed at overseas participants, while the vault supports the physical side of the market.

Chief Executive John Lee has publicly committed to reviving Hong Kong's status as a gold trading centre. Authorities have established a committee to expand the sector and are planning measures to support physical deliveries, bringing the city more closely into the global gold supply chain.

Physical delivery means transferring the actual metal, rather than simply settling a financial transaction. That makes storage, transport and the people responsible for those activities essential to the city's plans.

Hong Kong wants to attract trading houses, family offices and private companies. Family offices manage the financial affairs and investments of wealthy families. Their participation would sit alongside the banks and specialist businesses involved in trading and handling bullion.

Swiss trader MKS PAMP is considering establishing its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong and potentially a refinery in the Greater Bay Area. A refinery processes metal to the purity needed for its intended use. Both possibilities point to ambitions extending beyond trading desks, although the company is still considering the plans.

Immigration changes aim to widen recruitment

Hong Kong's government has expanded its Talent List to cover 60 professions in demand, including commodities trading and financial services. The list is intended to make immigration easier for professionals whose skills the city needs.

Three admission schemes are central to that effort:

• The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) allows highly skilled or talented people to settle in Hong Kong without first securing a job offer. Its points assessment considers age, qualifications, language proficiency, work experience and other factors.
• The General Employment Policy (GEP) allows employers to recruit foreign professionals for positions where local talent is lacking, with fewer administrative requirements for occupations on the Talent List.
• The Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) targets skilled workers from mainland China.

Employers recruiting for Talent List roles no longer need to demonstrate that suitable local candidates are unavailable. Removing that requirement reduces paperwork and potential delays in bringing a professional to Hong Kong.

The QMAS has also been updated with clearer scoring criteria and a more streamlined application process. Those changes are intended to make the route easier to navigate for eligible applicants.

Immigration arrangements can help employers reach candidates abroad, but the salary, relocation package and conditions of employment remain part of each candidate's decision. The difficulties described by recruiters therefore involve both government procedures and what individual employers can offer.

Students and a wider workforce strategy

The government has expanded the universities whose graduates qualify under the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS), opening the route to more graduates of leading institutions around the world. Full time foreign undergraduate students are also temporarily exempt from restrictions on part time work, increasing their incentive to remain in Hong Kong after graduation.

Hong Kong's recruitment effort extends beyond precious metals. Its strategy for developing eight centres covers trade, finance, innovation and technology, cultural exchange, intellectual property, aviation, shipping and legal services.

The Talent List and immigration policies support that broader programme. Hong Kong anticipates a shortage of more than 180,000 workers in key sectors by 2028, making the gold industry's recruitment difficulties part of a much larger workforce challenge.

A government report identifies international recruitment as essential to Hong Kong's social and economic development and competitiveness. Authorities are adjusting their approach to recruitment for emerging industries, including financial technology, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.

For gold trading employers, those priorities overlap with the need for staff who can maintain digital systems and manage financial operations. Competition for those skills reaches beyond the precious metals industry, even as Hong Kong seeks to expand several sectors at once.

Warehouses strengthen the wider metals network

The London Metal Exchange (LME) has approved Hong Kong as a warehouse delivery point, improving access to mainland China and bringing the city into the exchange's global metals trading network. Warehouses in Hong Kong will be able to store all six of the main metals traded on the exchange.

The LME development concerns the wider metals market, alongside Hong Kong's separate efforts to expand gold trading. It adds a storage and delivery role that fits the city's ambitions in commodities and supply chain services.

Hong Kong's storage costs are higher than those in other locations. Arthur Fan, head of Asia-Pacific at brokerage Marex, said building warehouses in the city would probably require further government support because of high land costs.

Fan nevertheless expects buyers of metals in China to welcome the arrangement because of Hong Kong's proximity and logistical advantages. For those buyers, a nearby delivery location offers a practical connection between international trading and the movement of metal.

The Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address supports the development of gold trading, the expansion of Bond Connect and investment in supply chain and logistics infrastructure. Bond Connect provides a channel for investment in bond markets, placing the gold initiative within a broader programme for financial services.

The government is also promoting digital transformation and the adoption of artificial intelligence across sectors. Its aim is to make Hong Kong an international centre for highly skilled talent, alongside improvements to the physical infrastructure businesses need.

Singapore competes for the same professionals

Singapore is a strong regional competitor, with new gold contracts, a regulatory environment welcoming to business and a substantial pool of financial talent. Banks and trading houses are recruiting there, where the talent pool is larger and compensation packages are often more competitive.

Singapore's approach to developing talent and attracting international business has helped it recruit and retain skilled professionals. That ability has supported its position as a leading financial centre through economic crises.

French entrepreneur Laurent Junique's experience building a successful business in Singapore despite initial challenges illustrates the city state's openness to international talent and innovation. His example sits within a wider competition to persuade experienced people to establish businesses and careers in a particular location.

Hong Kong must attract international professionals while retaining local staff who can find opportunities elsewhere. Its high cost of living, political uncertainties and competition from other financial centres make those decisions more complicated for candidates.

London and Dubai also feature in banks' overseas searches, while mainland China offers another recruitment pool. Hong Kong's employers are therefore competing across several locations, rather than dealing with a shortage that can be addressed through a single market.

Rising gold prices increase the stakes

Gold prices have climbed to record highs in recent months, supported by a weaker US dollar and expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Gold remains popular among investors during economic uncertainty and periods of low interest rates.

The surge has increased demand for skilled traders and added urgency to Hong Kong's recruitment efforts. A busier market creates opportunities for banks and trading businesses, but capturing them requires staff able to handle the transactions and their associated risks.

Hong Kong wants a larger share of the global gold market as part of its effort to reinforce its status as an international financial centre. Without enough experienced professionals, its infrastructure and policy initiatives could advance faster than businesses' ability to expand their operations.

The consequences are concrete for employers: an unfilled trading position delays the addition of expertise, while shortages in compliance, risk management or digital systems can constrain the support available to the trading business. The Bank of China (Hong Kong) vacancy illustrates the time recruitment can take even as market interest grows.

Recruitment and training need to work together

India's artificial intelligence industry offers a comparison with another sector facing shortages of specialised workers. Demand for AI specialists has driven up salaries and prompted companies to reconsider recruitment, placing more weight on the quality of hires and investment in developing employees' skills.

Hong Kong's gold industry faces a similar need to combine immediate recruitment with the development of future professionals. Education, targeted incentives and international hiring offer different ways to address parts of the shortage.

Partnerships with universities, scholarships and clearer career routes in commodities trading could expand the local talent pool. Maintaining an open and welcoming environment for foreign professionals would support the international side of that effort.

Industry participants suggest that Chinese banks and local employers could recruit professionals at the middle levels of their careers and invest in their development, even when attracting the most experienced international candidates remains difficult. That approach could gradually create a more durable supply of skilled traders.

Hong Kong already has policy changes, infrastructure investment and interest from international businesses supporting its gold ambitions. Its ability to build and retain the workforce needed to use them will determine how much of that opportunity the city can capture.

Key Points

• As of August 31, 2025, Bank of China (Hong Kong) had left a precious metals trading position unfilled for eight months.
• Hong Kong faces shortages in trading, risk management, compliance and digital infrastructure, alongside competition for staff from other financial centres.
• The Shanghai Gold Exchange has introduced contracts for international investors and established a bullion vault in Hong Kong.
• The Talent List now covers 60 professions, and immigration changes make recruitment easier for eligible roles.
• Hong Kong anticipates a shortage of more than 180,000 workers in key sectors by 2028.
• LME warehouse approval strengthens the city's wider metals network, while high land and storage costs remain challenges.
• Recruiting abroad, retaining existing staff and training less experienced professionals are central to expanding the gold business.