Pay increase falls below indicated wage raise in annual pay trend survey
Civil service employees across Hong Kong will be getting a three per cent pay rise for 2024-25, lower than the indicated annual pay trend survey.
The Hong Kong government said on Tuesday that the pay rise will be across the board for civil servants in the upper, middle, and lower salary bands, as well as directors.
The increase will also be applied retroactively from April 1, 2024.
"After holistic consideration and balancing of all relevant factors… the Chief Executive-in-Council (CE-in-Council) made the offers to increase pay at the same rate of three per cent across the board," said a spokesperson for the Civil Service Bureau (CSB).
The pay hike comes despite an expected fiscal deficit in 2024-25, according to the spokesperson, noting that among the six factors considered were the increasing cost of living and civil service morale.
"After the Chief Executive-in-Council considers the response from the staff side and makes a decision on the 2024-25 civil service pay adjustment, the government will submit the pay adjustment proposal to the Legislative Council Finance Committee for consideration as soon as possible," the spokesperson added.
Lower than pay trends
But the three per cent increase across the board is below the indicated wage hike for civil servants in the annual pay trend survey, which is regarded as a reference in determining wage adjustments.
The survey indicated a 5.47% wage hike for junior civil servants, 4.32% for middle civil servants, and 4.01% for senior civil servants, The Standard reported.
Civil Service Secretary Ingrid Yeung, however, said they believe the three per cent hike is a "balanced decision" considering the six factors considered.
"We note that the pay offers are some ways behind the net pay trend indicators. But given all the six factors taking into consideration as a whole, we believe that this is an appropriate decision for this year," Yeung told the media.
