Occupational Concerns and Well-Being of Skilled Hong Kong Immigrants in Australia

Abstract

Hong Kong is currently Australia's largest source of non-English-speaking background immigrants with professional and managerial skills. Many highly trained recent Hong Kong immigrants may be fluent in English and hold recognised qualifications, but would experience initial problems in a culturally different workplace, especially when their customary interpersonal style, which has previously brought them successes, seems no longer valued in their new work settings. This paper provides a context for these intercultural communication concerns by drawing on relevant research findings and case vignettes. The well-being of highly trained immigrant workers would be enhanced through intercultural training that aims at augmenting their repertoire of social competencies. The human resources issues involved in utilising immigrants' bicultural skills to improve the nation's productivity will be discussed using the case of Hong Kong immigrants.