[Gwanga in] Widespread Staff Shortages... Financial Supervisory Service Significantly Increases New Hires

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"All departments are busy filling their headcounts"

New employees at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) have been assigned to their departments starting this week. The FSS hired a significantly increased number of personnel, nearly 40% more than in previous years. This year, 135 new employees were hired through the open recruitment, and with one person quitting midway, 134 employees were deployed across various departments. The number of new hires at the FSS was 74 in 2020, 87 in 2021, and 96 last year.

The increase in new hires at the FSS is due to a rise in workload as well as a recent increase in employee turnover. A senior official at the FSS explained, "When the economic situation worsens, the workload of financial authorities also increases, leading to manpower shortages in each department. Some employees resign midway, and besides mandatory retirement, there are also voluntary dismissals, which have caused a shortage of personnel in operational departments, resulting in increased hiring."

There is also a growing trend of turnover among operational staff. Nowadays, younger employees tend to weigh the 'practical benefits' more than the prestige of working at the FSS. It has been reported that it is not uncommon for them to move to private companies where performance-based rewards are more certain. Although the FSS is exempt from designation as a public institution, it is subject to restrictions similar to those for public officials, such as employment review by the Public Officials Ethics Committee for retired public officials.

According to the current Public Officials Ethics Act, retired public officials of grade 4 or higher are prohibited from working at institutions related to their previous duties for three years. However, if the relevant Public Officials Ethics Committee confirms that there is no close connection between the duties of the department or institution they belonged to in the last five years before retirement and the institution subject to employment review, or if employment approval is granted, they may be employed. The FSS also applies this restriction to employees of grade 4 (Senior Investigator) or higher.

However, while it generally takes about nine years on average to be promoted from grade 5 administrative officer to grade 4 secretary in regular government ministries, at the FSS, employees become grade 4 Senior Investigators after about five years of service. There is widespread dissatisfaction that FSS employees face excessive restrictions compared to regular public officials in terms of authority and responsibility. An FSS official conveyed the atmosphere, saying, "Some young employees may consider these factors when deciding to change jobs after working for about five years and being subject to employment restrictions." In fact, it is known that one of this year's new hires has already taken a job elsewhere during training.

Additionally, many use their experience at the FSS as a stepping stone to move on. Professionals such as lawyers and accountants often work briefly at the FSS before moving to large law firms or accounting firms that offer high salaries. In this regard, the FSS previously announced plans to recruit about 60 personnel through occasional hiring this year for IT experts, legal and accounting professionals, and risk management specialists.