Government says civil servants usually stay permanent
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago5 MIN
Summary
Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan (楊何蓓茵) said on Tuesday that, apart from short-term, part-time or specific posts, the government generally does not convert civil servants to contract terms, and Hongkong Post is the only exception. Her remarks came after Hongkong Post announced that postal officers and postmen who complete probation in September or later will not be given long-term employment terms, but will instead be renewed for two years on civil service contract terms. The new arrangement affects more than 200 probationary staff. Yeung also linked manpower control to the government's five-year plan and wider use of artificial intelligence to save labour
Key Points
- Hongkong Post, facing years of losses and financial pressure, has launched reform and cost-cutting measures and changed post-probation terms for some frontline staff
- Postal officers and postmen completing probation in September or afterwards will not be confirmed on long-term terms, but renewed on two-year contract terms
- Yeung said the government will cut the civil service establishment by 2% in each of the current and next financial years, based on the previous year's establishment
- The planned reduction is expected to remove about 10,000 posts, but Yeung said it will not involve layoffs, only deletion of vacancies or redeployment
- In 2023, the government streamlined procedures for persistently underperforming civil servants; over the past three years, 33 cases were handled, including compulsory early retirement and resignations
Why It Matters
The postal arrangement stands out because the government says permanent civil service terms remain the norm even as departments are told to tighten staffing. For Hong Kong readers, the issue goes beyond Hongkong Post: it shows how fiscal pressure, technology adoption and performance management are being used together to reshape the civil service without formal layoffs