In a radio interview today, Legislative councilor Peter Shiu Ka-fai suggested importing workers from the Greater Bay Area to avoid affecting rent costs while limiting the salary of foreign workers to the industry median monthly wage.

He stated that industries should increase salaries to retain workers, but they might end up closing if they can't fully afford to shoulder the costs as their business is still recovering.

In rebuttal, Lam Chi-chung, the General Secretary of the Hong Kong Department Store and Commercial Staff General Union, who was also on the radio program, remarked that the median monthly income of the retail industry is still only around HK$13,000 per month, failing to have caught up to the general median income which exceeds HK$19,000.

Lam believes the slow salary increase and failure to catch up with inflation can be attributed to the labor shortage, which he believes can be solved through a wage raise, forgoing the need to import foreign labor.

In a recent survey, most wholesalers or retailers believe there is a long-term labor shortage and support the importation of foreign labor.

More than half of them believe the salary of foreign workers should be lower than local ones and allow them to work in Hong Kong for two years.

After the resumption of cross-border travel, the retail industry is returning to normal but is struggling to recruit new workers, which affects business expansion and service quality.