For Immediate Release
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) believes that the recommendations of the Pay Trend Survey Committee (PTSC) in its 2022 Pay Trend Survey confirmed on 25 May do not reflect the current economic climate and may cause a ripple effect across the whole economy.
The survey suggested junior, middle-level and senior civil servants may get a pay rise of 2.04%, 4.55%, and 7.26% respectively. The survey was conducted over a 12-month period starting from 2 April 2021, which was when Hong Kong had for most of that year successfully controlled the coronavirus and businesses were optimistic about returning to normal.
As Hong Kong businesses have had to endure strict restrictions and hardships to contain the fifth wave of the epidemic, many companies have basically not been able to do business and are still struggling to get back on their feet. HKGCC feels that with the economy being very fragile, as the
-4% in Q1 GDP data show, to be discussing such a scale of pay increases at this time is out of touch with reality.
Hong Kong has also suffered an outflow of talent, creating manpower shortages in many sectors. Businesses, especially public bodies, NGOs and SMEs, will be under strong pressure and find it hard to match Government salaries to retain staff.
HKGCC hopes the Government will consider actual business conditions on the ground today, the potential ripple effect to raise local salaries across the board, and the impact this will have on SMEs.
Media inquiries: Please contact Ms Kari Yu at 2823-1266 / [email protected]