AECOM is seeking 60 top hires in Hong Kong

The race to recruit the most talented people in the building and engineering industries continues in Hong Kong, with AECOM – one of the world’s largest providers of technical and management-support services – currently looking to hire 60 experienced professionals.

The firm, which employs 3,500 people in Hong Kong, offers fully integrated services that cover areas including design, planning, architecture, construction, engineering, programme management, energy, and water and drainage systems.

Because of the wide scope of work that the firm undertakes, it usually has a considerable number of vacancies. Finding the right talent, however, is apparently not always the easiest of tasks.

“It is rather challenging to get experienced talent in Hong Kong, especially mid-level engineers with 10 to 15 years of experience,” says Cassady Winston, the firm’s senior director of human resources in Asia.

“In the field of structural engineering, we are facing similar challenges in recruiting mid-level talent, mainly because the market in Hong Kong is very keen. We also have around 16 to 20 vacancies for experienced hirings for water and drainage.”

The company is also looking for urban and landscape designers, but again finds the talent pool in these fields relatively small.

“We have to attract overseas candidates to join. How they manage relocation and settling down in Hong Kong for the long term will be a major challenge,” Winston says.

Established in 1990, AECOM has clients in more than 140 countries, employs more than 45,000 staff and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its rapid success is partly due to the fact that several of its predecessor firms could look back to close to a 100-year history of garnering trust and respect, as well as strictly adhering to and carrying out the company vision of “making the world a better place”.

“Our company’s mission and core values underpin both our business strategies and day-to-day operations. Furthermore, our core values and leadership competencies are a key component in our candidate selection, talent management and remuneration decisions,” Winston says.

Company values are also strictly observed, the most important of which are integrity and doing things the right way. Another cornerstone of AECOM’s work is delivering superior value through innovation and agility.

“We are looking for people who share the same values as AECOM, have high standards of integrity, and are passionate about delivering innovative and excellent services to clients. They should also be willing to face challenges and grow with the company,” Winston says.

Employees will work with professionals from various disciplines in a dynamic, multi-cultural environment, so excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and a good command of English and Chinese, are a must.

As a global company, AECOM provides an international platform for people to work with talented professionals to develop and advance. The company also offers various professional development opportunities for employees, including support for outside professional training and internal job rotation.

“Various team-building activities are arranged for staff, including social and family gatherings both in the office and out in the community,” Winston says.

On top of various charitable programmes, a “Time Bank” allows staff to apply for AECOM’s support for various community programmes in the form of monetary help or paid leave for volunteers.