The chart below tracks the number of pages of job ads listed each Saturday in the South China Morning Post. The number near each point is the number of jobs the SCMP reported for that day on their Internet edition. This is what I call the SCMP Job Index, and it can tell us a number of things:

• The chart gives a sense of the availability of jobs in Hong Kong and parts of China.
• According to inside sources at the SCMP, the SCMP is the world's most profitable newspaper because of  the job ads it runs. Some close to the pulse of HK's employment scene claim the prices for ads (in both the SCMP and HK Standard) are exorbitant, and in due course the whole cash cow will fall through for both papers. Either way, assuming SCMP's profitability is correct, the above chart tells us that companies are still willing to spend money on job ads. This despite the current economic doom and gloom portrayed across the region. Make your own conclusions.

One needs to take into consideration:

• Companies may be running smaller advertisements, thus lessening the strength of the SCMP Job Index as an indicator.
• Companies may be using alternative methods (i.e. the Internet) to find job candidates

However, the number of jobs ads have significantly decreased, and then stabilised at a lower level, to give some credibility to the SCMP Job Index as an indicator of sentiment in the local business environment.

Issues to consider if you come to Asia to work, or seeking work.