Flexible policy for existing civil servants who want to stay on after 60

With reference to Albert Cheng King-hon's article ("Extending retirement age for all civil servants is fairer, and better for HK", May 22) and Keith Lee's letter ("Higher civil service retirement age costly drain on public purse", June 7), I wish to share with readers the government's policy considerations in extending the service of civil servants.

The retirement ages of new recruits appointed to the civil service on or after June 1, 2015, have been raised to 65 for civilian grades and 60 for disciplined services grades. Also, the government will formulate flexible initiatives for extending the service of serving civil servants.

These initiatives will enable the civil service to take early action in response to demographic challenges and to meet the manpower needs of departments for operational effectiveness.

For new recruits who will retire several decades later, there is a clear case to raise their retirement age, given the population forecasts.

The considerations for extending the service of serving officers are more complicated. While the number of retirees is projected to increase over the next decade, from an annual average of around 6,400 (or a wastage rate of 3.9 per cent) in the five-year period ending 2018-19 to around 6,800 (or 4.2 per cent) in the next five-year period ending 2023-24, we do not anticipate significant recruitment or succession problems across the board during the period. It is also anticipated that the number of retirees will decline thereafter.

The civil service establishment has undergone a moderate increase in recent years.