Hundreds of Hong Kong postmen denied permanent contracts will get priority for other civil service jobs and easier entry requirements for clerical posts, as the postal service grapples with financial strain.

The Civil Service Bureau outlined the concessionary measures in a closed-door briefing with union representatives and lawmakers on Tuesday, in a bid to support the postal staff affected by Hongkong Post’s unprecedented cost-saving move following its report of a record deficit.

The government department’s announcement in August sparked criticism within the civil service after it said it would stop offering permanent civil service positions to about 200 employees on probation, instead offering them two-year contracts.

Tsoi Koon-lung, president of the Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servants’ Association, said authorities had told unions that affected postmen applying for other civil service positions would be prioritised if they scored the same as other candidates.

The affected staff would still have to go through open recruitment, including skill tests and interviews, to maintain fairness and ensure they met the basic requirements, Tsoi told the South China Morning Post.

But he cautioned that the remedial measures might still be insufficient, reiterating that the best solution was to reverse the initial decision to deny permanent contracts – a problem he said had been created by the administration.

“When they attend interviews, they might be at a disadvantage because they did not originally intend to take up clerical work,” Tsoi said. “Of course, their advantage is their experience working in government. So in the end, it depends on whether individual colleagues have sufficient competitiveness.”Lawmaker Lam Wai-kong, who met bureau officials, said the minimum educational requirement for affected postmen applying for assistant clerical officer and clerical assistant posts would be relaxed from five passes in the HKDSE or HKCEE to three, including Chinese, English and mathematics.

He said the special arrangement applied to those two grades because they had actual manpower needs and fell under the bureau’s supervision, which made it easier to implement the support measures.

The government will also ensure that affected postmen suffer no pay cut if the salary point of their new posts is lower. Those who have already completed probation at Hongkong Post will be exempt from the standard three-year probationary period in their new roles and will need to serve only a one-year trial period.

Another option available to affected postmen is to apply for internal transfers to other departments – a procedure usually available only to civil servants on permanent contracts. The South China Morning Post has reached out to the Civil Service Bureau for comment.

Hong Kong Postal Workers Union chairman Cheung Wai-kuen welcomed the measures, saying they responded to the demands of affected employees.

He acknowledged the difference between postal and clerical work, but noted that the department had provided training in typing and office software to help affected postmen acquire the skills needed for clerical posts.

Cheung said he believed postmen who had recently joined the department and had not completed probation, as well as those who had finished it, would have stronger incentives to apply for other positions, as they would be least affected by an additional trial period.

The self-financing postal service has recorded losses for eight consecutive years, reporting a record deficit of HK$821 million (US$105.3 million) in 2024-25.

The Legislative Council earlier approved a rescue plan to inject HK$4.6 billion to support Hongkong Post’s operations for the next three years, while the government has pledged to unveil a reform road map by 2028.