Raising 9th Grade Salary to '2.69 Million Won'... "I Want to Quit Being a Public Official" Hits Record High

Intention to Leave Public Service Hits Record High
Low Pay and Excessive Workload Are Main Causes
Job Satisfaction and Perception of Public Service Values Also Decline

As the number of public officials leaving their posts due to low salaries, excessive workloads, and rigid workplace culture rapidly increases, last year's intention to leave among public officials also reached the highest level since the survey began. Although the government made strenuous efforts to improve treatment, such as raising salaries to retain departing officials, these measures reportedly had little effect.

On the 9th, the Korea Institute of Public Administration released the results of the '2024 Public Service Life Survey' conducted from August to September last year, targeting 6,075 general public officials belonging to 48 central administrative agencies and metropolitan and local government headquarters. According to the results, the 'intention to leave' among central and metropolitan government officials has increased for seven consecutive years since the survey started in 2017. The intention to leave, which was 2.83 points (out of 5) in 2017, rose to 3.31 points last year. The intention to leave among local government officials, surveyed since 2022, also increased from 3.30 points to 3.48 points last year.

The primary reason for the intention to leave was low pay (66.6%). In fact, the monthly salary for entry-level Grade 9 public officials last year was only 1,877,000 KRW, failing to reach 2 million KRW. Excessive workload (10.5%) ranked second. The average score for perceived workload among public officials was 3.70 points, indicating that they generally feel the workload is heavy.

Job stress and job satisfaction are also worsening. Last year, the average 'job stress perception' score was 2.87 for central and metropolitan officials and 3.00 for local officials. Causes of job stress included contradictory demands or instructions from superiors, inconsistencies between demands from superiors and subordinates, and handling civil complaint tasks.

Job satisfaction, which measures interest, enthusiasm, and sense of achievement during work, also declined last year, with central and metropolitan officials averaging 3.34 points and local officials 3.17 points. Public service value perception, which measures proactiveness in gathering citizen opinions and persuading stakeholders, adherence to ethics and norms, and emphasis on achieving policy goals, also continued to decline, scoring 3.50 and 3.59 points respectively.

Perceptions of public service values and public service motivation among public officials also declined across the board. Public service value perception, measuring respect for clients and colleagues, adherence to principles in work, and emphasis on achieving policy goals, scored 3.59 for central and metropolitan officials and 3.50 for local officials, continuing a downward trend since 2022. Public service motivation perception, measuring recognition of the value of serving the public and willingness to sacrifice for the public good, also continued to decline since 2020, scoring 3.18 for central and metropolitan officials and 3.01 for local officials.

The Korea Institute of Public Administration explained, "Compared to central and metropolitan officials, local government officials have lower job satisfaction, higher intention to leave, and experience greater stress due to frequent fieldwork and handling civil complaint tasks. This indicates the need for human resource management and interventions tailored to the characteristics of local government officials who perform frontline duties."

Meanwhile, attention is focused on whether the government's recent measures to improve treatment, including salary increases for public officials, can prevent their departure from the public sector. This year, the starting salary for Grade 9 public officials rose by 6.6% (123,882 KRW) from last year to 2,000,882 KRW, surpassing 2 million KRW for the first time. Including various allowances, the annual salary for entry-level Grade 9 officials is explained by the government to be 32.22 million KRW, with a monthly average of 2.69 million KRW. In addition, the government plans to prepare improvement measures to eradicate unreasonable public service cultural practices.