Government social worker resignations have surged over the past five years – nearly six times the number recorded between 2015 and 2019 – HKFP has learned.
Social Welfare Department. Photo: GovHK.
A total of 367 social workers resigned in the five-year period between 2020 and 2024, the Social Welfare Department told HKFP on Wednesday. There were just 66 resignations in the same five-year span between 2015 and 2019.
The department shared the figures after the General Union of Social Workers in Social Welfare Department announced last week results of a survey that found that one in five government social workers may quit within five years.
The questionnaire, which surveyed 446 social workers working for the government in September and October last year, saw many cite low morale and management issues.
According to the Social Welfare Department’s figures, there were seven resignations in 2015, the first year that it provided data for. Resignations peaked in 2022, with 107 people quitting.
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There are around 27,000 registered social workers – licensed by the Social Workers Registration Board – in Hong Kong.
The Social Welfare Department has around 2,500social worker positions with wide-ranging roles, from frontline social workers at the government’s family service centres and juvenile homes to those conducting back office work like outsourcing welfare projects to NGOs and managing the licenses of elderly homes.
‘Quite concerning’
Sam Leung, the chairperson of the General Union of Social Workers in Social Welfare Department, attributed the departures in 2021 and 2022 to the emigration wave that followed the 2019 protests and unrest, as well as Hong Kong’s strict Covid-19 rules.
However, it is worrying that resignations remain much higher than before, he said.
A total of 68 government social workers quit last year, while 85 resigned in 2023, according to the Social Welfare Department.
“Many of the people who said they may leave their positions within five years are not emigrating, which is quite concerning,” Leung told HKFP on Thursday. “Mostly they are saying that the workload is too heavy and the management is bad. There is a culture of anxiety.”
The Tuen Mun Children and Juvenile Home. Photo: Social Welfare Department.
Social workers complained that work adversely affected their mental health, the survey found, with some saying they had trouble sleeping and were often anxious.
“When we did the survey, we wanted to see if emigration was still a major reason [for social workers leaving]. It seems that that is not the case,” he said.
Leung added that under the civil service system, social workers – like other civil servants – rotate to new posts every few years. The rotations do not take into account social workers’ strengths and experiences, resulting in people being posted to roles they are unfit for and therefore affecting the team’s morale.
The union chairperson said the Social Welfare Department should implement a new system specific to professionals instead of following the civil service’s rotations system, and strengthen training for management and put more resources into hiring.
As of late December, the department had around 165 social worker vacancies.
