Hong Kong workers lag regional peers in AI use, lose out on pay, security: PwC study

Hong Kong’s workforce lags behind regional peers in the frequent use of AI, a sluggish adoption rate that experts say is limiting pay rewards and job security even as companies prepare to trim entry-level roles.A 2025 survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released on Thursday found that half of Hong Kong respondents were infrequent users of generative artificial intelligence (AI) at work in the past 12 months, compared with 34 per cent for the Asia-Pacific region.The data showed only 22 per cent were daily users, lagging behind the Asia-Pacific's 29 per cent.“Technology is revolutionising work and, while AI integration is growing in Hong Kong, its potential is underutilised as the Hong Kong workforce is still catching up on gen AI and agentic AI usage,” Michael Cheng, workforce lead partner at PwC Hong Kong, said.AI agents are technologies capable of performing multi-step processes, such as scheduling a meeting with many participants, using little human input.Only 19 per cent of local respondents attributed a salary increase to AI in the last 12 months, far below Asia-Pacific’s 46 per cent. Likewise, just 24 per cent of Hong Kong workers said AI had increased their job security in the last 12 months, compared with 52 per cent in the region.