Letters | Hong Kong civil service must go beyond early recruitment to really compete for talent
- Readers discuss the introduction of an early recruitment scheme by the city’s largest employer, improvements retail investors want to see, and the move to promote ESG to small businesses
Early-bird job offers to second-year undergraduates and above is good news for the younger generations. This unprecedented move could also help the government deal with the high staff turnover – which in 2021 was the highest since the handover – and changing labour demographics.
Acceptance of early job applications can promote the competitiveness of the public workforce. Currently, the recruitment exercise for departmental and general grade officers such as assistant labour officers and executive officers often takes more than eight months.
Appointments are not announced until May or June at the latest, which differs from how businesses often extend job offers to top candidates months before they graduate. As such, an early issuance of offer letters can definitely help the biggest employer in the city secure some, if not all, local talent.
However, if the public sector is to really compete with the private sector, early job offers alone may not be enough as candidates may give them up for more promising career prospects in business. Two more courses of action could be pursued to stem the problem at source.
It may also not be favourable for workers who are making life plans such as for marriage, parenthood and property purchase.
Second, the government could revisit the civil service code. At present, the Employment Ordinance does not apply to the government’s internal human resources policy. The civil service reassures us that the employment terms of the civil service are not worse than the provisions under the city’s labour law.
However, the existence of double employment standards may easily become a sore point for the government. It may unintentionally create an impression of unfairness to both civil servants and private employees. This also does not promote transparency and public employees’ confidence in in-house management.
Such practices are a legacy of the colonial government. As Hong Kong celebrates the 26th anniversary of our return to China next month, perhaps it is an opportune time for us to consign this colonial policy to the ash heap of history.
Thus, a win-win situation may be achieved for both the institution and its officers: civil servants would be able to work under more transparent, perhaps better conditions, while the government could retain and attract more workers.
Alison Ng, assistant lecturer, Centre for Applied English Studies, University of Hong Kong
Companies must not forget the small investors
First, the five-year financial summary in companies’ annual reports is often difficult to find, especially if the report runs to 200-300 pages long. Companies should move the summary near the front of the report, on page 2 or 3.
Second, in some reports, the financial summary shows earnings per share but not the dividend. The summary should show cash (available for paying dividends to shareholders) plus dividend per share. This is the best way to showcase a rising dividend trend, which will lead to higher share prices.
Third, some companies have paid no dividends for many years. This damages buying interest. The Hong Kong stock exchange should require all companies to adopt a progressive annual dividend policy; and if no dividend is paid for five years, require the company to privatise at 75 per cent of net asset value.
If a company does not wish to pay annual dividends to their public shareholders, it should privatise and return investment funds to shareholders.
H.W. Yu, Yuen Long
For the small business owner, ESG is more red tape
And now ESG finance. This is a notion from America, the latest iteration of a social justice agenda engulfing the United States. Let’s not let it engulf us.
As the founder and ex-owner of an SME in Hong Kong, I speak against this ESG push. It will only increase the red tape strangling our hard-working entrepreneurs.
I call on the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to find better things to do with our money than to follow this latest boondoggle. I join the other “reluctant and wary small business owners” in demanding that our government give this latest gravy train a pass. Let it chug on by, as we stand – smiling and waving – with our feet firmly rooted to the ground.
Peter Forsythe, Discovery Bay
