"The Atmosphere Has Changed": Noryangjin Stirs... Are Civil Service Exams Gaining Attention Again?

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Civil Servant Salary Increase Rate at 3.5%, Highest in Nine Years
Experts: “Salary Hikes Should Be Accompanied by Pension Reform”

As the government moves to expand compensation for public officials, there are signs that the popularity of civil service positions-once declining sharply among younger generations-is beginning to recover.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management on January 6, the number of national civil servants to be recruited through open competitive exams this year has increased to 5,351, marking the first rise in five years. Under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the number of national civil servant positions steadily decreased from 6,819 in 2022, to 6,396 in 2023, 5,751 in 2024, and 5,272 last year.

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The number of local government officials to be recruited is also expected to increase. An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated, "The current administration is committed to assigning only essential personnel, so the recruitment of local government officials will also rise," adding, "We are aiming to increase staffing to an appropriate level in areas where it is needed, such as integrated care and firefighting."

Compensation, which had been cited as the main reason for the departure of junior civil servants, is also being enhanced. This year, the pay raise for civil servants is 3.5%, the highest increase in nine years since 2017. Additional increases for junior-level officials are being pursued, with the pay for Grade 9, Step 1 rising by as much as 6.6%. New and increased allowances have been introduced for those working in high-intensity fields such as disaster response and civil complaints, and the calculation standard for overtime pay-previously applied only to Grade 9 officials-has been expanded to include Grade 8 officials.

In fact, after the government's policy shift, the competition rate for Grade 9 national civil service positions has begun to rebound. The competition rate, which had fallen each year from 37.2:1 in 2020 to 21.8:1 in 2024, rose to 24.2:1 last year.

Experts say that, in addition to raising salaries, a rational improvement of the pension system is necessary for the popularity of civil service positions to recover. Ha Hyesoo, a professor in the Department of Public Administration at Kyungpook National University, stated, "In the past, young people aspired to become civil servants because, although the pay was low, the pension system was attractive. Recently, however, the pension benefits for civil servants have been significantly reduced depending on their year of entry," adding, "It is necessary to consider long-term measures to align the actual compensation level by comparing the former low-pay, high-pension system with the current low-pay, low-pension system."