Back in February, the provincial government announced it would be introducing legislation to end mandatory retirement. The reason: according to a report by the premier's council on aging and seniors' issues, "It is time for a new view of aging and of the role of older people in our province. The fact that older adults are a valuable and contributing part of our society hasn’t been fully recognized. We must increase opportunities for older people to remain engaged with others in their communities, and continue to share their knowledge, experience and skills." But, at the same time, the Campbell administration is taking steps to ensure public service recruits are somewhat fresher-faced.

As part of their compensation plan, deputy ministers will have their annual pay docked by five percent unless they meet eight key performance targets. Among them: increasing the number of new employees who come from outside government "with a focus on under 30s."

In an interview with Public Eye, community services communications manager Marc Black explained, "We have an obligation to sustain service to British Columbians. And every effort needs to expand our reach into the larger labour market. We're short younger workers. Under 30s represent about a quarter of the provincial labour force but less than seven percent of the public sector." The following is a complete copy of those targets.

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Executive Compensation Plan - FINAL. Holdback Criteria

Measure

1. The percentage of employees who move to your ministry.
2. The use of professional consultants.
3. The percentage of staff who received an annual performance review.
4. The percentage of new (external) hires into the ministry with a focus on under 30s.
5. The ministry's rating on employee engagement.
6. The government's rating on employee engagement.
7. The ministry's rating on an executive level driver from the work environment survey: "Executives in my organization provide clear direction for the future".
8. Innovation of the public service.