When Asked Why Civil Servants Are Less Popular... Civil Servants Cite 'Low Pay' as the Reason

Personnel Administration, Announcement of National and Public Officials' Opinion Survey Results

88% of current public officials believe that the recent decline in the popularity of public service is due to 'low salaries.'

On the 21st, the Ministry of Personnel Management held a seminar in collaboration with the Korean Society for Public Personnel Administration to mark its 10th anniversary and released the results of a survey conducted among the public and public officials. The survey, conducted on about 30,000 people including 3,000 citizens and 27,000 public officials, focused on 'the public service society as perceived by the public and public officials' and 'key tasks the Ministry of Personnel Management should focus on in the future.'

The survey results showed that both the public and public officials cited 'lower pay compared to the private sector' as the primary reason (multiple responses allowed) for the recent decline in applicants for public official recruitment exams. In particular, 88.3% (24,209 people) of public officials pointed to low salaries as the cause, while 62.9% (1,886 people) of the general public agreed with this perception.

Earlier this year, the competition rate for the national public official level 9 open recruitment exam was 21.8 to 1, marking the lowest rate in 32 years since 1992. The level 7 exam competition rate also dropped from 76.7 to 1 in 2016 to 40.6 to 1 this year.

The second most cited reason was 'stress caused by malicious civil complaints,' with 39.8% (10,912 people) of public officials and 53.7% (1,610 people) of the public selecting this. Other reasons included hierarchical organizational culture, excessive workload, and declining social perception of public officials.

Regarding boosting morale among public officials, the most important factor cited by both the public and public officials was 'improving treatment such as salary increases,' with 53.5% (1,604 people) of the public and 87.9% (24,087 people) of public officials selecting this. This was followed by organizational culture improvement, fair promotion and performance-based rewards, and improvements in working environment and welfare.

As for the key tasks the Ministry of Personnel Management should focus on over the next 10 years, both the public and public officials most frequently answered 'establishing a disaster prevention system to allow public officials to work with peace of mind,' with 1,146 citizens and 14,895 public officials selecting this. Improving treatment of public officials was also cited.

On this day, Yeon Won-jeong, head of the Ministry of Personnel Management, stated, "I believe the first step for all innovation begins with communication," adding, "Going forward, the Ministry of Personnel Management will continue to communicate with the public and do its best as a guide for the public service society to innovate public service."