Public service organizations in cities across Guangdong province plan to recruit 4,722 young graduates from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions this year — accounting for more than 35 percent of their total recruitment.

Guangdong's Human Resources and Social Security Department said the positions being offered are in the provincial capital Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Public institutions in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, will provide more than 610 positions — the most of any city.

Hong Kong graduates could have an advantage when competing for positions that require a high level of English-language proficiency and an international perspective.

Career opportunities are being offered in schools, hospitals, sports centers, the media, libraries and museums. Some of the posts are tailored for those with Hong Kong and Macao backgrounds, such as positions at local communication and trade centers that foster links with the two special administrative regions, incubators for Hong Kong and Macao entrepreneurs, and management positions for local fishermen with Hong Kong and Macao residency.

The application process kicked off last month and eligible applicants will sit for a written test this month.

Public institutions in Guangdong have been expanding their job recruitment drive to Hong Kong and Macao since 2020. In 2021, the provincial government launched an initiative allowing fresh university graduates from Hong Kong and Macao to participate in public service organizations' school recruitment schemes. Eligible applicants must be permanent residents of Hong Kong or Macao.

One Hong Kong resident who applied for a job in 2021, civil engineer Lin Jiaxin, joined the construction center in Guangzhou's Nansha district in January 2022.He said the pay was less than would be offered in Hong Kong, but he was attracted to the job because it allowed him to acquire professional knowledge on-site.

Lin said he expects to participate in more large-scale infrastructure projects and accumulate practical experience.

To support career development for young people from Hong Kong in the Bay Area, Hong Kong's government launched a pilot Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme in 2021 that provides a monthly allowance of HK$10,000 to eligible enterprises for each employed young person for up to 18 months.

From this year, the scheme will also allow enterprises to apply to deploy young people for work in Hong Kong or Chinese mainland cities outside the Bay Area.

Hong Kong Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Meikuen said during a visit to Guangdong last month that the Hong Kong government is encouraging the city's young people to seize the opportunities brought by the development of the Bay Area and develop businesses there.

She said Hong Kong's Home and Youth Affairs Bureau will continue to work closely with Guangdong's Human Resources and Social Security Department to promote youth innovation and entrepreneurship.

When it comes to retaining cross-border talent, Wang Qing, a professor at the School of Government at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said the collaborative development of talent in the Bay Area needs to be improved systematically.

It requires a new governance framework for talent attraction, retention and cultivation mechanisms, as well as talent mobility, Wang said.