One of the most popular corporate catch-phrases of a decade ago was 'customer care'. Every organisation, big or small, had to have a department where a team of smiling people with helpful demeanors could listen to gripes and resolve problems.
The service aimed to be courteous and caring. People would walk in filled with anger, and would walk out mostly feeling satisfied. It was a system designed to serve customers and let them know that they had the support of someone they could trust.
Then, five years ago, Asia was hit by economic hard times. As consumer demands fell, company profits declined and people lost their jobs. As the crisis deepened, the new buzz-word became 'down-sizing'. Among the first people to lose their jobs were those in customer care.
Last month, Hong Kong had 259,000 unemployed people, 7.2 per cent of the workforce. In the past year, more than 10,500 believed they had been unfairly dismissed or had not received proper payment and had gone to one of the government's customer-care departments, the Labour Tribunal.
Instead of receiving welcoming smiles and helpful advice, some have been told to drop their cases and go away. Without the benefit of legal representation, they have left the offices in Mongkok more confused and angrier than when they went in.
The government has not been hit as hard by the economic crisis as thousands of Hong Kong companies. While some departments have been restructured and there is talk of job and pay cuts, the civil service has not yet been affected in the same way as the private sector.
