PurposeThis paper examines the correlation between university discipline and industrial structure in the context of the integration and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (hereinafter the Greater Bay Area). It aims to determine the industrial structure deviation, and further identify human resource shortages and complementarity through the lens of the university discipline layout in the three regions of the Greater Bay Area, namely, the nine mainland Guangdong cities in the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong, and Macau.Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes a quantitative Pearson correlation approach to determine the magnitude and strength of the relationship between regional university discipline and industrial structure in the Greater Bay Area, using predictor variables of percentage of compositions of GDP by sector to manifest the industrial structure and criterion variables of percentage of compositions of university enrollments by an academic program to represent the university discipline layout.FindingsThe most significant empirical result suggests that industrial structure deviation exists in the secondary industries of both Guangdong and Hong Kong. This indicates the complementarity between regions of the Greater Bay Area: the number of science and engineering talents graduating from the universities in Hong Kong exceeds the demands of Hong Kong’s local needs, while the science and engineering talents cultivated by universities in Guangdong cannot satisfy the needs of its secondary industries. However, the cities of Guangdong are not the primary choice of most Hong Kong graduates (Zhaopin, 2019).Originality/valueThere have been previous empirical studies dealing with the correlation between Chinese higher education discipline layout and industrial structure at the national level. There have been more case analyses at the provincial level, and some studies have used a comparative lens to find implications for the Chinese transformation. However, few studies have examined the correlation between higher education discipline layout and industrial structure in the context of the Greater Bay Area, with its emphasis on regional synergy and the distinction of “one country, two systems, and three tariff zones.” Based on its empirical findings, this study calls for a talent ecosystem that is beneficial for talent flow, talent sharing, and talent cultivation in a complementary manner.