Hongkong Post scraps permanent contracts for new staff amid financial strain

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 the organisation faces a decline in mail volume.“Therefore, we must carefully plan our human resources, making timely adjustments to make sure our resources are properly used,” she said.“We cannot offer permanent contracts to them, but we also understand that it will deal a great shock to them if we terminate their employment after probation. As a responsible employer, we wish to minimise the impact.”Tai said about 200 employees would be affected. Whether their employment would be renewed after two years would depend on Hongkong Post’s operational needs at the time.During the contract period, the employees would still be regarded as civil servants and entitled to civil service welfare benefits.