The Inland Revenue Department is finding it hard to find accountants and other professionals as the strong economy lures them to better-paid jobs in the private sector.
The department had 49 unfilled posts, or 7 per cent, of its 679 establishment at the end of March, slightly better than the 9 per cent earlier in the month.
Alice Lau Mak Yee-ming, Commissioner of Inland Revenue, admitted that the strong economy had seen staff leave for better jobs, especially assistant tax assessors.
To combat the problem, the department had filled some of the vacancies in the past few years by recruiting assistant assessors on non-civil service contracts.
'Notwithstanding a starting salary of HK$15,215 per month [that] was offered, there was high turnover among new recruits because of a lack of job security,' Ms Lau said. Those with two to three years' experience found it easier to get jobs in the private sector, she added.
The Big Four accountancy firms are all looking for staff in Hong Kong but also to work in projects in the expanding financial sector on the mainland. Ernst & Young, one of the Big Four, plans to recruit 300 graduate students in Hong Kong at a starting salary of HK$11,100 a month. It recruited 200 students last year.
The salary was 5 per cent higher than last year.
