MOGAHA: Beginning an Experiment of Advertising for Insider Candidates for Team Leader Posts

The Ministry of Government Administration and House Affairs (MOGAHA), which is the first to repeal the organization system of bureau and division and put the team system into practice (See page A4, March 9 of this newspaper), set about seeking insider candidates for general manager and team leader positions beginning on March 10.

It is the first time for an administrative organ to recruit most executive posts through the means of internal advertisement for candidates.

The MOGAHA recently restructured its organization system of one assistant minister, one office, one center, 12 bureaus/officers, 45 divisions, and four teams into five centers, eight officers, one division, one academy, and 48 teams.

The number of positions advertised for candidates in this new organization system amounts to 58 with the exception of some open positions, including the positions of head of e-government center, audit and inspection officer, and emergency planning officer. The number of executives who can apply for these available positions is 413; more specifically, three for the first class, 13 for the second class, 21 for the third class, 111 for the fourth class, and 265 for the fifth class, which means the competition ratio is approximately 7:1.

In the afternoon of March 10, the MOGAHA instructed all the candidates to prioritize their desired positions from first to third. However, all positions are not applicable to all the first to fifth class employees.

In particular, when it comes to higher positions, as the number of candidates is more limited, the competition rate is rather low. However, the competition for 48 team leader posts is expected to be very high, as all 397 executives in the third to fifth classes can apply for these posts.

Moreover, if 111 manager-level secretaries cannot become team leaders, they cannot help being treated unfairly at the level of sixth to ninth class civil servants, which explains why this personnel situation is a life-or-death issue to them.

As fifth class executives in their mid-30s and being with the MOGAHA may get preferment from this opportunity to serve as team leaders, they are feeling expectant.

On the other hand, secretaries in their 40s and 50s, who have not been named as managers yet starting in the seventh or ninth classes, are seemingly ill at ease.

Jong-Dae Ha orionha@donga.com