Civil service exodus 'has slowed down'

Michael Shum and Wallis Wang

The resignation rate among civil servants has slowed down, the government said, despite 10,100 officers having left over the past year, accounting for 5.7 percent of the 190,000-strong service.

Speaking at a Legislative Council public service panel meeting yesterday, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan said the rate this year is similar to the 2.1 percent last year.

"Due to the overall decrease in Hong Kong's labor force, the resignation rate is at 2.2 percent, which is similar to the rate last year, which means the resignation rate has already slowed," Yeung said.

But according to government figures, the resignation rate hit a record high this year of 2.2 percent, up 0.1 percent year on year, with the rate staying under 1 percent in the past decade.

Apart from resignations, around 5,800 civil servants retired, according to Yeung, making it the main reason for civil servants leaving the service at 58 percent.

Former secretary for security Lai Tung-kwok, now a New People's Party Legco member, called for the retirement age of disciplinary forces to be extended to 60, putting it in line with the police force.

"Unions representing disciplinary forces have told me many times that they had communicated with the authorities but there was no progress," Lai said.

However, Yeung said the management of other disciplinary forces said they had limited vacancies for promotions or recruitment, unlike the police force.

"Since there are few vacancies, officers can be promoted step by step and there is no difficulty in finding a successor for certain posts," she said.

Chau Siu-chung, who represents the labor sector in Legco, said a lack of manpower may cause more civil servants to quit, resulting in a vicious cycle.

"Frontline civil servants have said they are shuddering from increasing workloads and pressure. They have to work overtime frequently and some are even unpaid when working overtime," he said.

In response, Yeung agreed that the current manpower situation was not ideal. "It's difficult to match actual manpower supply with our plans as there will always be someone quitting or retiring, and we have to follow a certain recruitment process to fill the gaps," she said.

Yeung added the government had enhanced civil service recruitments and would continue to shorten the recruitment process.

She also said over 500 contract workers who refused to pledge allegiance to the SAR and the Basic Law have already left the civil service. The 535 government workers - 149 full-time contract workers and 386 part-time workers - had ignored the requirement to sign the declaration or refused to sign it.