LettersHongkong Post should not confuse reform with retreat
Readers discuss ways to make the postal administration more useful and commercially imaginative, and the maulings of two small pet dogs
The postal administration’s decision to place about 200 postal workers who are completing probation on two-year contracts, rather than offer them long-term employment, is troubling. Not because the department should be exempt from financial discipline, but because the government appears to be reaching first for the easiest lever: employment security.
Hongkong Post is under pressure. Mail volumes are falling, costs remain high and its business model needs reform. But postal workers still serve many Hongkongers who are easily overlooked: elderly residents and people living outside the urban core.
Many new recruits might have accepted lower pay than they could earn elsewhere because a public service offered stable prospects. Changing that expectation after the fact risks eroding trust and morale.
More fundamentally, Hongkong Post should not be judged by profit alone. As with libraries and other public services, its value lies partly in providing universal and affordable access. A letter can still be sent across Hong Kong for only a few dollars. That is not simply a commercial proposition.