I graduated from the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education between 2019 and 2021 with a Higher Diploma in Software Engineering. I thought I could become a programmer in the near future, but reality knocked me down. I was either told I lacked work experience and wasn’t qualified for the job, or that my programming knowledge wasn’t in-depth enough. So I taught myself programming, only to be told my skills met the requirements. Often, job interviews in Hong Kong require a skills test, I thought I’d finally succeed, but in the end, they’d say I lacked work experience, and I’d end up failing again.
After searching for a year, I still hadn’t found a job. Without a job, I had to rely on financial support from my family. I tried looking for other jobs outside of programming, but I kept hearing the same line: “You have no work experience.” Eventually, through my parents’ connections, I landed a clerical position at a company, but I only stayed there for a year before leaving. After leaving that job, I found myself back in the cycle of job hunting. This went on for a while, and during that time, I held quite a few jobs, but none of them lasted very long. To this day, I’m still looking for work in Hong Kong.
In recent years, Hong Kong’s economy has been deteriorating. Not only have foreign workers come to Hong Kong and taken jobs away from locals, leaving many unable to find work, but this situation has also emerged in Macau, where it is quite severe. Walking through the streets of Central or Kowloon, I see the change. In addition to foreign workers, the rise of artificial intelligence is another factor contributing to widespread unemployment. In recent years, artificial intelligence has developed rapidly, with many powerful AI tools emerging one after another. Topics such as AI agents and Vibe Coding have been widely discussed in recent years. With AI tools now being able to write boilerplate code in seconds, the bar for ‘entry-level’ has been pushed to an unreachable height. It feels like the ladder I was trying to climb has been pulled up just as I reached for the first rung. While these advancements are necessary for the long-term development of technology, they have also led to job losses for many people. Many countries, such as the United States and China, have been affected to varying degrees. After being laid off, many people have sent out 800 resumes but still cannot find a job.
The psychological strain of this job search has been perhaps the heaviest burden I’ve carried. It’s not just the rejection emails—it’s the way my self-confidence has been gradually eroded. Every time I open LinkedIn or a job site, anxiety washes over me like a tidal wave. Watching my peers move forward, I feel as though I’ve been stuck in a time loop since graduating in 2021. To stay competitive in this fast-paced industry, I’ve spent countless nights debugging code for personal projects, yet I can’t help but wonder if anyone behind the screen even sees this effort.
Every morning when I wake up, I turn on my computer, check Gmail, and am met with messages saying, “We have received your application. We will notify you via email if there are any further updates.” This frustration no longer stems solely from salary concerns, but from a loss of identity. I once firmly believed I would make a name for myself in the tech industry. Now, I am nothing more than a statistic in Hong Kong’s unemployment figures. I’m still here, still fighting, but the question remains: In an era of artificial intelligence and global competition, do I still have a chance?