Two years after the Audit Commission called out Hongkong Post for its lack of profitability and other failings, the postmaster finally moved to fix a structural expense: staff costs. But the audit report probably wasn’t the main catalyst for change. Rather, it was the fact the government had to ask the Legislative Council for a…
Hong Kong’s self-financing postal administration will stop offering permanent civil service contracts to new employees as part of cost-saving measures amid a worsening financial outlook. Postmaster General Leonia Tai Shuk-yiu said on Tuesday that new Hongkong Post employees who pass probation in or after September would be offered two-year contracts on civil service terms, as…
Hong Kong’s civil service chief has pledged to deliver a “reasonable and attractive” pay adjustment once the economy and public finances improve, following the legislature’s approval of a flat 2 per cent pay rise for civil servants this year. The Legislative Council’s finance committee on Friday scrutinised HK$6 billion (US$773 million) in spending for the…
Hong Kong authorities have vowed to develop a long-term road map for the city’s struggling self-financing postal operator and keep an “open-mind” on all options, including privatisation or turning it into a traditional department. Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bernard Chan Pak-li revealed the move at the Legislative Council’s economic development panel meeting…
In Hong Kong’s busy commercial area of Causeway Bay, a post office located in a major shopping centre served just a few dozen customers during lunch on Thursday. Across 90 minutes, when nearby restaurants and shops were filled with residents pressed for time, the post office stayed mostly empty, its workers outnumbering the people they…
Hong Kong authorities are seeking to inject HK$4.6 billion (US$587 million) into the government-owned postal service provider to sustain its operations for the next three years, following eight years of operating losses and declining mail volumes. A document submitted to Legislative Council on Wednesday by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau showed a bruising fiscal…