As we all know, Hong Kong has always pursued a system of """, with the starting salary of civil servants higher than the market, coupled with strong stability, it has always been known as the "iron rice bowl", attracting many people to apply.
Source: Cable News
Recently, there have been "rumors" that the Hong Kong government is going to give civil servants another salary increase.
Another salary increase this year?
The Hong Kong Salary Trends Survey Committee held a press conference on the 16th to announce the preliminary results of the 2024 Salary Trends Survey.
According to the preliminary survey results, the overall salary trend indicators of high, middle and junior civil servants in Hong Kong this year are 5.05%, 5.35% and 6.63% respectively.
After deducting the incremental salary amount, high, middle and low levels.
Among them, the salary increase of low-level civil servants is the highest, and it is a new high since 1998!
Source: Sing Tao Headlines
"Note: The Hong Kong Salary Trends Survey is an organisation independent of the Government and is mainly responsible for conducting an annual civil service pay trend survey and making recommendations to the authorities."
However, these data are only "suggestions" after all, the Hong Kong government.
Because the net indicator of pay trends is not the only consideration, there are five other factors that the Hong Kong government will consider, including: " ”
The committee will meet again on May 22 to review and confirm the findings before submitting its report to the Hong Kong Government.
Source: Ming Pao
Although the final adjustment has not yet come out, there are many different voices in the society.
First of all!
01
Supporters: Raise your salary!
"The mechanism of the pay trend survey has always been effective, and the Hong Kong government should respect the mechanism and raise wages according to the net target."
"It is hoped that the authorities will increase the remuneration according to the net target. If salaries are not raised accordingly, it will be difficult to compete with the private sector. ”
Source: Dot News
However, there is a view that:
"At present, the Hong Kong government is facing a fiscal deficit, and civil servants should not raise their salaries."
02
Opposition: There should be a total salary freeze or salary construction!
First of all, some scholars have questioned the "net indicator of pay trends".
"Some private companies have even frozen salaries, and the data released by the Salary Trends Survey Committee this year is a bit high and out of touch with reality."
Source: Dongwang
In addition, it is pointed out.
Take senior officials of the Hong Kong government as an example, in a 2022 Legislative Council document, the remuneration of Hong Kong government accountability officials is compared with the remuneration of key leaders in other countries or regions around the world.
Among them, the monthly salary of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Government (about HK$420,000 at that time) was much higher than the monthly salary of the British Prime Minister (about HK$130,000 at that time), the President of the United States (about HK$260,000 at the time), the Prime Minister of Canada (about HK$260,000 at that time), the Prime Minister of Australia (about HK$360,000 at that time), and the President of Switzerland (about HK$310,000 at that time).
Obviously, the salary level of Hong Kong civil servants is also the leading in the world, and the proportion of total civil service salaries in government operating expenditure must be at the same high level in the world.
Source: HK01
Indeed, in the past 10 years, the number of civil servants has increased from 160,000 to 190,000, and the annual salary expenditure has exceeded 90 billion yuan!
If you add more than 500,000 employees of funding agencies, !
Accounting for more than 20% of the government's operating expenses!
Source: Hong Kong official website
Therefore, the view is that:
"Civil service salaries in Hong Kong account for a very high proportion of the Hong Kong government's recurrent expenditure, and at present, the Hong Kong government should not raise salaries, but should consider a complete salary freeze or salary reduction to save money."
"Since the authorities believe that social welfare spending can be cut, there is no reason why civil servants' salaries should not be moved; If it is said that the salary cut will hit the morale of the civil service. ”
However, it's worth noting that:
"There is a precedent for a comprehensive pay cut for civil servants, but there is no small resistance."
The last time the Hong Kong government experienced a huge fiscal deficit for many years was after the Asian financial turmoil in the early days of the handover.
At that time, the government adopted the policy of "reducing the deficit", and Leung Kam-chung, who served as the treasurer from 2001 to 2003, proposed in the budget that civil servants reduce their salaries by 4.75% and reduce their annual expenditure by about 6 billion yuan.
Source: Sing Tao Headlines
In the following year, the Legislative Council passed the "0-3-3" wage reduction plan, i.e. a wage freeze in 2003 and a salary reduction of 3 percentage points in each of the following two years.
However, there are individual civil servants who are dissatisfied and even file lawsuits!
。
"The Government cannot unilaterally amend the employment contracts of civil servants, and the salary reduction arrangement also violates the Basic Law's commitment that civil servants' salaries should not be lower than those before the reunification, so the law ordered by Financial Secretary Leung Kam-chung in 2002 is contrary to the Basic Law and civil servants can ignore it."
If the Hong Kong government loses the lawsuit, the Hong Kong government may have to return as much as more than HK$6 billion in salary cuts to all civil servants in Hong Kong!
Fortunately, the CFA ruled that the Basic Law should be enacted to reduce wages.
"The ruling points out that Article 100 of the Basic Law guarantees that the remuneration and benefits of civil servants are not lower than those before the reunification, and that the Government also has the power to legislate on the remuneration of civil servants in exceptional circumstances."
Since the across-the-board pay cut is easy to cause a backlash from civil servants,.
03
Eclectic: Only high-ranking officials are reduced
And such an approach,.
The first salary cut was proposed by the first chief executive, and at the beginning of the handover, Hong Kong was hit by problems such as the financial turmoil and the SARS epidemic, and the economy was in trouble.
In October 2002, he was appointed Chief Executive.
Source: Internet
In 2003, the then Chief Executive announced in his Policy Address that he had decided to work with accountable officials, non-official members of the Executive Council, the Chief Executive's Office and the Chief Adviser to the Central Policy Unit.
Until the 2009 financial tsunami,.
The most recent pay cut for all accountable officials was in 2020, when it was announced in April 2020 that all directors of departments and directors of the Chief Executive's Office for a period of one year to show that the accountability team was working with the public to tide over the difficult times, and the non-official members of the CE Executive also followed suit with a 10% deduction of remuneration, saving the Treasury about $9.4 million in public money.
Source: Hong Kong Economic Times
In addition, some scholars believe that:
In the same economic downturn on the mainland, civil servants have cut their salaries by 20%, and it is necessary for the Hong Kong government to follow the practice of salary cuts, which are more effective than the single-digit growth brought about by the increase in public services and the controversy caused by tax increases.
Source: Dongwang
"If you reduce 10%, there will be tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars, which will be greatly reduced (the fiscal deficit) in real time. A 10% reduction for senior civil servants is the minimum requirement. ”
Finally, I would like to discuss with you: What kind of approach do you think the Hong Kong government should adopt this year? Why?
Welcome to leave a message in the comment area.