The fifth wave of the epidemic has impacted all walks of life. Many wage earners have lost their jobs or been forced to take unpaid leave. Civil servants who are regarded as "iron jobs", the government is conducting an annual salary trend survey, which will affect whether 180,000 civil servants can increase their jobs this year. salary.
The Chinese Civil Service Bureau wrote to the Civil Service Bureau earlier, urging the authorities to consider suspending the 2022 salary trend survey. Since the business of private companies has been severely distorted by the epidemic, both public and private enterprises are in an extraordinary period, and they believe that the salary trend survey indicators have no reference value.
Li Kuiyan, president of the Chinese Staff Association, said that the salary trend survey is difficult to objectively reflect the actual situation of various industries. He also said that the workload of civil servants has increased greatly under the epidemic, and it is not fair to deduct salary.
Kwok Wai-keung, chairman of the Legislative Council Civil Service and Staff Affairs Committee of Subsidized Organizations, believes that the salary trend survey should be continued according to the mechanism, and the adjustment range will be determined according to the survey results and inflation data.
Some lawmakers believe that raising or lowering the salary of public servants during the epidemic will cause controversy, and the government needs to make a political decision.
Li Kuiyan: Under the epidemic, the workload of civil servants has greatly increased and it is unfair to reduce wages
The Salary Trend Survey is conducted on an annual basis to measure the salary changes in the private sector from year to year, and calculates the "General Indicator of Salary Trend". The Government will deduct the incremental salary from the total indicator to obtain the "Net Indicator of Salary Trend", which is then calculated. As well as factors such as Hong Kong's economic situation, government financial situation, staff's requirements for salary adjustment, and civil servant morale, the salary adjustment will be determined.
Last year's salary trend survey, after deducting the incremental salary, the net index of salary trend for senior civil servants was -2.04%, -0.54% for mid-level civil servants, and -0.68% for low-level civil servants. The Chief Executive in Council has decided to freeze the wages of all civil servants for two consecutive years.
The epidemic has lasted for more than two years, and the fifth wave has hit Hong Kong's economy even more. The salary survey data is expected to be quite "difficult to see".
As early as 2020, the Chinese Civil Service Association advocated a three-year freeze on civil servants. Li Kuiyan described to Hong Kong 01 that the current situation is a special situation, and various industries are affected by the epidemic to different degrees. The results of the survey on salary trends depend on the industries covered. For more industries that benefited from the epidemic, such as medicine and testing, the final indicator may be positive. However, if more industries with “water-dropping” business declines are included, the indicator may reach minus 20%, which is difficult to objectively reflect the real situation.
She said that the current economic environment is limited by human factors such as the gathering order, which is a distorted situation. It is recommended to suspend this year's salary trend survey to avoid controversy and differentiation.
She mentioned that during the epidemic, the workload of civil servants has increased significantly. In addition to maintaining necessary services, some civil servants need to be dispatched to carry out anti-epidemic work such as enclosure and inspection, answering hotlines, and managing isolation facilities. It is not fair to deduct civil servants' salaries.
She believes that suspending this year's salary trend survey can also focus resources on fighting the epidemic, allocate more manpower to prepare for the opportunity to implement mandatory nationwide testing, or deal with the next wave of epidemics.
Civil servants are required to participate in the encirclement and inspection work.
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Leung Chau-ting: Salary cuts for civil servants may cause a domino effect
Liang Choting, director-general of the Civil Service Union Federation, also hopes that the government will suspend the survey on pay trends this year, because the current economic fluctuations make it unsuitable to conduct the survey, and the survey should be resumed after the economy stabilizes.
He pointed out that the current survey is basically expected to result in a negative number. If civil servants need to reduce their salaries or cause a domino effect, private enterprises will follow suit, which will make it worse.
Kwok Wai-keung believes that the annual salary trend survey should be carried out according to the mechanism and should not be skipped. However, he noted that there was still inflation in Hong Kong last year, and civil servants were under a lot of inflation pressure. If the government blindly freezes salaries, it may affect the morale of civil servants.
He pointed out that the final adjustment of civil service pay should be determined based on various factors after the results of the pay trend survey and inflation data are released.
Ge Peifan: It is more appropriate for Canada to be scolded for freezing wages under the epidemic
Ge Peifan, a member of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong, said that the overall market has been poor in the past year, but some industries have experienced a surge in business under the epidemic. He believes that the survey data may not reflect the actual situation, and it is appropriate to suspend the survey.
She pointed out that most civil servants are devoted to the fight against the epidemic. If the salary is cut, morale will be damaged, but if they increase the number of workers, they will be "scolded by the public." The government must make a decision in a balanced manner.
Labor member Zhou Xiaosong pointed out that civil servants have been frozen for two years, and the fifth wave of the epidemic has put civil servants under enormous pressure. He hopes that civil servants will get a pay increase to boost morale. I believe that if the government takes the lead in raising wages, it will also encourage private enterprises. effect.
He said that in addition to the salary trend survey, the government can also determine the salaries of civil servants based on other factors, hoping that the government will make special arrangements under the current special circumstances.
Civil servants' anti-epidemic performance provoked the government to mobilize 70% of people to participate
During the fifth wave of the epidemic, some lawmakers questioned that some civil servants were working from home and did not go to the front line to fight the epidemic. Han Zheng, the vice premier of the State Council in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs, even asked civil servants to do their best to fight the epidemic when speaking at the two sessions.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Nip Tak-quan, recently pointed out that a total of 140,000 civil servants, accounting for 70% of the total, have been mobilized to fight the epidemic during the current wave of the epidemic.
Some guild members pointed out that the salary trend survey is only one of the factors to be considered. The government will consider it from an overall perspective, including social response. As the largest employer in Hong Kong, if the government takes the lead in reducing salary, it may cause a chain reaction in the private market.
He said that he understands that the society is dissatisfied with the performance of civil servants, and many people agree with Yip Liu Shuyi's earlier remarks that civil servants "do more with less" and "pay too much attention", but once the salary is reduced, the overall impact on the society must be considered.
Nie Dequan: Formulate and launch policies with clear goals to mobilize civil servants to cooperate with the actions. Civil servants, etc. to collect public housing in Queen's Hill Village: After 2 years, I have to wait for 2 years to revise the isolation unit. How helpless the civil servants have complaints about the closure of the district?
Carrie Lam: It's not a common phenomenon. Many people want to be put on the scene to besiege Nie Dequan: I understand that the outside world is disappointed with the government's performance in fighting the epidemic, but it is unfair to obliterate the efforts of civil servants.