Hong Kong expected to extend civil servant pay freeze for another year amid struggling economy

Unions had pushed for the move fearing they might actually see salaries reduced after findings by the city’s Pay Trend Survey Committee

The offer, which affects more than 170,000 government employees, was made on Tuesday morning by Carrie Lam’s Executive Council

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Hong Kong civil servants are in line for their second pay freeze in as many years. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 12:46pm, 8 Jun 2021Updated: 11:01pm, 8 Jun 2021

Hong Kong is expected to extend a civil servant pay freeze for another year, with the administration citing an economy that has yet to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The offer, made on Tuesday by the Executive Council, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s de facto cabinet, came in response to demands from civil service unions that had publicly called for the freeze, fearing 2021-22 salaries could be cut instead.

Further consultation between the Civil Service Bureau and the unions, which represent many of the city’s 170,000 public servants, will take place before the council makes a final decision.

According to the findings of the Pay Trend Survey Committee, which helps determine government employee wages, those in the upper, middle and lower salary bands could have faced pay cuts of 2.04 per cent, 0.54 per cent and 0.68 per cent, respectively.

A spokesman for the Civil Service Bureau on Tuesday said Exco made its initial decision to freeze pay after taking into account the survey, the state of Hong Kong’s economy, changes in the cost of living, the government’s fiscal position, staff pay demands and workforce morale.