The number of job advertisements placed in the first quarter in Hong Kong has increased by 10 per cent from the fourth quarter of last year, according to Robert Walters.

In its latest survey, the recruitment firm tracked advertisement volumes for professional positions across leading job boards and national newspapers in Hong Kong, Singapore, the mainland and Japan.

In Hong Kong, there has been a significant increase in recruitment advertisements within the property industry, followed by positions in operations and logistics, administration, clerical and secretarial sectors. 

On the mainland, there has been a significant increase in job advertisements for human resources, training and accounting.

CEO best paid job for women  

Last year, women chief executives were the best paid,Forbes reports. The magazine gathered a list of the 10 top-paying jobs for women based on last year's data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

Women chief executives made a median of US$1,553 per week, or about US$81,000, last year. However, their total numbers are low and they do not earn as much as men. Women comprise just a quarter of all chief executives and earn 75 per cent as much as their male counterparts.

"Chief executives will remain well paid in the years to come, and it's a position you can work your way into," says Al Lee, director of quantitative analysis for PayScale, an online provider of employee compensation data.

Pharmacists placed second on the list - above lawyers (No 3) and physicians and surgeons (No 6). Women pharmacists earned a median of US$1,475 per week, amounting to about US$76,500 a year. 

More men take parental leave

One-fifth of employees participating in Taiwan's parental leave programme since last year have been men, China Daily reports. Staff who have paid into Taiwan's basic labour insurance programme for at least a year are eligible for the parental leave subsidy for up to six months since March last year.

According to the Council of Labour Affairs Minister, Wang Ju-hsuan, 37,000 employees have received approval to take part in the programme.

He says the initiative is to encourage working mothers and fathers to share in the responsibility of rearing a child and to allow both parents to ask for unpaid parental leave for up to two years until their children reach the age of three.

"More than 90 per cent of those who took six-month parental leave have successfully returned to their jobs," Wang says.