Cause behind public’s aspiration for civil servant jobs

What is the most favored occupation among teenagers in Korea? It is a civil servant. It remains unchanged for five consecutive years. What is the most favored occupation among parents? It is a civil servant as well. What is the occupation considered to be most ideal for their spouses by single men and women? Of course it is a government employee. It is a rare case in which all Koreans achieve "unity of opinions" among people from all walks of life, young and old, in Korean society where division of opinions is new normal.

As job-seekers scramble to acquire the position of a civil servant by making all-in bet, people who are studying to take civil servant exams often make headlines. A man, who was preparing for the civil servant exam, sneaked into an office in a government building, and forged his test score to achieve his dream of becoming a civil servant. He is currently undergoing court trial. A civil servant in Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, was killed in front of his pregnant wife in May as he was collided with a man who jumped off an apartment building to commit suicide. In the open competition to recruit Grade 9 central government officials in April, a total of 222,650 test-takers took the exam for 4,120 government employee jobs up for grabs, breaking all-time record in number of test-takers for the test. Competition for local government employees is also intense, and even a lawyer applied to take the exam for recruiting Grade 9 metropolitan government employees in Gwangju recently.

Four in 10 young people who are seeking jobs are preparing for civil servant exams (as of May). According to Statistics Korea, 256,000 of 652,000 people who are preparing to land jobs are those studying for civil servant exams, and the figure represented almost double the number of people seeking to land job in private companies. Despite criticism that these strife constitute wasting of national energy and manpower, the fever remains unabated for a good reason. Since job security is guaranteed through the official retirement age, civil servants can stay employed longer than those hired by private companies, and hence can earn stable income and generous pension payments post-retirement. “Would you start preparing the exam if you will be assured of passing the exam in five years?” “I think 85 percent of salaried workers in the Republic of Korea will seek to take the exam if they can pass it before age 40….” These are posts uploaded on an online community for people studying for civil servant exams.

A person who is preparing for a civil servant exam presented specific reasons why youths are craving for a civil servant job. "I want to enter a conglomerate but lack skills and capacity to be able to enter. Nonetheless, I don’t want to join a smaller company." "Civil servant jobs provide job security, and they are almost never fired, while the gap in wages vis-à-vis the starting pay at conglomerates is minimal." "Social status that is higher than people with other occupation." Every day, newspapers are awash with headlines on people who took advantage of civil servant positions as their path toward power, and a means to elevate their social status. The main cause behind the public’s aspiration for civil servant jobs might be bad behaviors of those civil servants who instilled people with the "misperception" that not all occupations are created qual.

고미석기자 mskoh119@donga.com