Commission of Audit finds problems in public recruitment

A report published yesterday by the Commission of Audit condemned failures and malpractices in the recruitment system of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP).

The commission accused the SAFP of poorly enforcing the 2011 recruitment system, adding that “the progress of filling vacancies was not ideal.”

“At that time, SAFP had already grasped the problems existing in the two forms of examinations […], however, the recruitment system launched in 2011 did not formulate corresponding solutions, which led to the central recruitment examination of the 2011 recruitment system repeating the mistakes of the 1989 recruitment system,” the Commission of Audit wrote in a statement.

“Together [with other measures], it leads to more serious staff mismatches and longer test times,” the statement added.

Since the establishment of the Macau SAR, the staff recruitment and selection model has been modified several times, according to studies carried out by the relevant departments. The changes were continually discussed and optimized with the hope of designing a corruption-free system of recruitment for government workers.

A statement from the government states that the authorities have endeavored to devise ways to improve public administration in recent years, among which the effective selection of personnel, aimed at building a body of quality employees, stands out.

In 2016, the SAFP launched its new recruitment system, which aimed to solve the problem created in 2011, but this new system was accused by the commission of “only increasing the number of applicants for exams, but not increasing the number of candidates to be selected by government departments,” resulting in overlapping examination resources, time and materials invested. In total, the 2016 recruitment examination cost over 31.6 million patacas.

“The examinations cost a lot of public money, but the average attendance rate […] was lower than that of the previous examinations, having wasted resources,” said the Commission of Audit.

For 2016’s recruitment, the SAFP allowed one-click full selection on the e-application platform, resulting in more than 100,000 applications for professional qualification examinations for senior technicians. However, more than half of the applicants were not eligible after the qualification examinations, wasting the time of the relevant departments.

“The audit report concluded that the efficiency of the recruitment and coordination of the SAFP is unreasonably low,” the Commission wrote. “The process also shows that there is an insufficient understanding at the SAFP in terms of personal requirements of all departments.”

“The audit report showed that SAFP ignored the overall development of the SAR government and the urgency and importance of a stable and viable recruitment system to attract real talented people to government services,” the report reads.

In response to the Commission’s accusation, the SAFP issued a statement without admitting to its mistakes, but instead saying that the bureau spotted problems in its 2011 recruitment system and still claimed that it made effective improvements.

Also in response to the report, Chief Executive Chui Sai On has instructed the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, and her secretariat to thoroughly study the audit report on the recruitment of public servants, according to a statement from the government. Chan was told to adopt the suggestions indicated in the report and conduct a comprehensive investigation into the existing problems with the regime.

A statement from the government spokesperson also said that, following the Audit Commission report, the relevant departments should seriously assess the key issues of the current recruitment and selection regime.