Civil service resignations reach a record number

Jane Cheung

Civil service resignations tripled in five years to 3,734 in 2021, from 1,300 in 2017, a single-year high since the handover.

The Civil Service Bureau said they included 800 juniors 25 to 29 years old.

In a reply to lawmakers' inquiries ahead of the Legislative Council's Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po's budget, the bureau said 10,487 civil servants - 5.9 percent of the workforce - left the government in the fiscal year 2021-22.

Most of them - 6,310 people or 60 percent - retired. Between 2017 and 2021, about 8,500 civil servants left the government each year, including retirees.

In terms of resignations, 3,734 civil servants, or 2.1 percent, quit their jobs in 2021-22, twice the 1,863 in the year before.

Compared with 1,333 resignations, or 0.8 percent, in 2017-18, the number has almost tripled.

"The reasons for resignation include medical or family reasons, pursuing further studies and taking up other jobs," the bureau said.

By age, most of those who left were under 45, with the top three age groups being 800 between 25 and 29 years, 675 between 30 and 34, and 624 from 35 to 40.

By November 30 last year, the bureau managed 192,478 civil servants in 78 departments, with 18,623 posts vacant.

In the year 2021-22, when the city was still battling Covid with stringent measures, the Department of Health lost 113 long-term civil servants who had worked for more than a decade but had yet to reach their retirement age.

The department now has 720 vacancies in its 6,938-strong structure.

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has 678 vacancies among 2,331 positions, meaning one in five has yet to be filled.

Public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong is also seriously understaffed, with 139, or 18.9 percent, of 735 positions vacant.

The police force needs 6,641 people for its 37,947-strong structure, while the Education Bureau has 963 vacancies, or 15.3 percent, among a headcount of 6,296.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Civil Service Unions, Leung Chau-ting, urged authorities to improve their benefits to lure talent into joining the government.

"Now the only advantage of being a civil servant is stability. But you don't get any medical insurance. You need to go to public clinics if you're sick," he said.

"And there isn't any post-retirement medical welfare. All you get is the Civil Service Provident Fund Scheme contributions and that's it.

"In recent years many Hongkongers have migrated. The private market is in dire need of mid- to high-level workers and bosses are willing to offer competitive packages, especially to those with professional qualifications and experience."

Official records also show that 89 civil servants were arrested for their participation in the anti-extradition protests in 2019.

Among them, 58 have left the government and five others have been convicted.

Twenty-six others were not charged or acquitted, but they will still need to undergo an internal probe. Nine of them have been slapped with disciplinary penalties, 13 found innocent and investigations are still ongoing for the remaining four.

The bureau said civil servants charged with criminal offenses have had their salaries cut by up to half during legal procedures. If they are found guilty, they will not be paid at all.

The Civil Service College, set up in 2021, is planning to add 29 people involving an annual salary cost of HK$31 million.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com