A recent survey conducted by the Hong Kong Federationof Youth Groups found that the Government's proposal to slash starting salaries of newlyrecruited civil servants did not affect the desire of young people to join. More than 70per cents of the F.5 Graduates said that the proposal did not lower their interest injoining the civil service.

    When asked whether the proposalwas reasonable or not, some 64 per cent of respondents said yes, while 36 per cent thoughtotherwise or gave an uncertain reply. The finding suggested that young people were moreinclined to support the pay cuts.

    The Hong Kong Federation of YouthGroups conducted this telephone survey from 20 to 21 July 1999, on the day and the dayafter the Government announced its proposal to slash starting salaries of newly recruitedcivil servants. A total of 531 F.5 graduates were successfully interviewed.

    The survey found that the civil servicehad a wide appeal for graduates. Four out of five respondents revealed that they hadthought a civil servant career. Among them, 45 per cent said that this was mainly due tothe stable nature of the job and the working hours. The second most commonly mentionedreason was the good working conditions, including an attractive salary and fringebenefits. This accounted for 37 per cent of respondents' answers. The findings suggestedthat many graduates saw the civil service as an alternative when seeking employment in theprivate sector.

    Among those respondents who did not want to join thecivil service, 28 per cent said that the boring nature of the job had scared them awayfrom joining the system.

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