Civil Service Secretary Ingrid Yeung on Monday said a year-round recruitment drive is proving effective in tackling a manpower crunch across various departments.

The government has been continuously recruiting for some roles since October last year.

At a Legislative Council panel meeting, Yeung said this allows job offers to be made more quickly compared to the previous system of only receiving applications once every one or two years.

“We have shortened the time required for approval from 10 months to four months, so there has been a tangible surge in the number of acceptances,” she said.

“Because in the past, the period was too long, so successful candidates accepted other job offers. With the year-round recruitment process which has been put in place for some 13 months, we do see an increase in recruitment numbers.”

Yeung also told lawmakers that 3,000 civil servants resigned in the 2023/24 period, a rate of 1.8 percent. She said this was a fall from previous years and was “a really low percentage” compared to the private sector.

“In the private sector, according to statistics, the resignation rate stands at double-digit figures in most cases. So 1.8 percent is a really low figure. Forty percent of those resigning from the service have done so before the end of their probationary period,” she said.

“You could say that perhaps the candidate chosen hasn’t been the right one, and it’s a process for the candidates as well. For the new recruit, early on, if they know that their aspirations and expectations are not met, or if they find themselves unsuited for this post, then they should leave early instead of dragging on.”

Election Committee lawmaker So Cheung-wing said that out of hundreds of thousands of applicants, only around 10,000 people had been recruited, questioning whether it was a matter of quality or whether the bureau is trying to control spending.

Yeung said it was because many of the applicants weren't up to scratch, adding that money is available to plug the gaps in manpower.