Hong Kong’s largest civil service union backs proposed pay rise of up to 5.47%, points to staffing shortage

The report proposed increasing the pay of high-ranking civil servants by 4.01 per cent, middle-tier staff by 4.32 per cent and a rise of 5.47 per cent for lower-ranking employees.

“The indicators matched our expectation as Hong Kong has been suffering from insufficient working force, particularly among low-skilled occupations,” Tsoi told a radio programme.

He attributed the trend to an emigration wave among professionals and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years.

He added that many private companies were now offering competitive packages to fill their own vacancies.

The union’s secretary general also noted the civil service comprised 197,000 posts, with about 170,000 being filled. He added that the pace of recruitment was struggling to catch up with the rate of manpower losses.

The net pay trend is one of six factors considered by the government’s key decision-making Executive Council before it decides on the final pay adjustments for civil servants.

The proposed increases are substantially higher than those from last year, with the previous report recommending a 2.87 per cent rise for high-earners, 4.65 per cent for mid-ranking staff and 4.5 per cent for lower-ranker employees.

The other five factors cover the state of the local economy, the cost of living, the government’s fiscal position, staff pay claims and morale among civil servants.

Tsoi said the public should have noticed the civil servants’ swift efforts and the “breakthrough” in their performance under city leader John Lee Ka-chiu’s administration.

“The government even bought this year’s Olympic Games broadcasting rights, which has never happened before,” he added.

Civil service representatives on the Pay Trend Survey Committee will respond to the report next Wednesday, with authorities to make their own proposal and ask for the Legislative Council’s approval.

Federation of Civil Service Unions CEO Leung Chau-ting on Thursday called on authorities to follow the survey’s suggestions and refrain from using the budget deficit as an excuse to curb raises.

More people were likely to quit and join the private market without a competitive pay package, while a lacklustre increase would hinder efforts to attract talent to join the civil service, he added.