Hong Kong to rely on tech to replace some frontline civil servants, minister says
- Greater use of technology will also help government achieve goal of reducing headcount by 2,000, civil service chief Ingrid Yeung says
Additional basic, frontline roles within the Hong Kong government will be replaced with technology as part of efforts to restructure its workforce and achieve the goal of having eliminated 2,000 positions by the end of next year, the civil service chief has told the Post.
But recruitment efforts targeting university graduates would continue to intensify, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan said, emphasising the need to address manpower shortages in specific grades of government workers.
Including time-limited and permanent posts, the force comprised 192,315 workers as of the end of last year. Authorities aim to limit the number of civil service posts to 194,000 by the end of March 2025, a reduction of 2,000 positions compared with the level from the same period in 2021.
To achieve that aim while also providing more public services, Yeung’s bureau was relying on rapid advances in technology to review manpower needs and work procedures, she said.
“In future, more and more frontline, simple jobs will have to be done by technology. [Some are] simply not cost-effective to be done by human hands any more. With technology, there will be fewer mistakes, there will be greater precision,” she said.
“And also, you can always do the work round the clock, so the productivity will be higher.”
