Secretary for the Civil Service Denise Yue told lawmakers today the Government will recruit 7,700 civil servants to fill vacancies in the remaining three months of 2008-09 and in 2009-10.

The entry qualifications of the posts are set on the basis of the operational needs of individual grades. The monthly salary of each post depends on the starting salary of individual ranks.

The Government and the Housing Authority will raise capital-works expenditure in 2009-10 to provide 55,000 jobs, of which 5,200 are for professional and technical staff and 50,000 for labourers.

Most of the 4,000 temporary jobs created will be provided by the Hospital Authority, non-governmental organisations and service contractors.

Miss Yue added that for civil service appointments, associate degree qualification is accepted as broadly equivalent to a higher diploma. There are 13 grades which set both as entry qualification requirements.

There are more than 80 civil service grades which accept applications from associate degree graduates and the monthly salary ranges from $18,885 to $30,370.