Salaries to go up after survey finds wages in private sector have rebounded since 2000
Taxpayers will have to fork out HK$660 million a year under a controversial plan to raise salaries for some civil servants and new recruits by up to 30 per cent.
The planned increases come after a consultant survey found salaries for new recruits in the private sector had largely rebounded since 2000.
Officials said the government had to raise the entry salaries for civil servants and teachers of subvented schools accordingly, to make jobs competitive.
To avoid new recruits being paid more than serving staff, 20,000 employees recruited at lower pay scales since 2000 will also have their salaries raised.
The move, subject to approval by the Legislative Council later this year, will cost taxpayers HK$660 million a year, the government said.