Special Employment for Civil Servants

Public officials will be subject to a special employment system, it was announced yesterday.

One had to pass the Higher Civil Service Examination to become a grade-5 official in the past, but those employed via special employment exemptions now outnumber those from the examination.

Last year, 244 administrative officials were appointed through the examination, while 395 were appointed through special employment procedures.

The Civil Service Commission said, “There is high demand for special employment from highly specialized departments, including the Korea Intellectual Property Office, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare,” adding, “Special employment is used to boost candidates with specialties that those appointed from open employment lack.”

About 59 out of 120 grade-5 officials employed by 10 government departments last year hold a doctorate degree. Among them are 35 lawyers, nine accountants, eight patent attorneys and four medical doctors, showing that most of them were employed thanks to their specialties.

Proud Professional Public Officials-

The average competition rate for special employment positions is 10 to one. It is considerable competition, considering that the employment opportunities are open only to professionals,

A former lawyer who was employed as an administrative official at the Ministry of Finance and Economy last year explains the reasons that professionals are eager to work in civil service: “The attraction is that you can harness your specialty in the public sector. You take pride in changing the direction that the country takes and participating in devising policies. That is the primary reason.” Being responsible for trade affairs, he said that he took great pride in playing a part in the specialized area of the public sector by utilizing his specialty.

Their level of job satisfaction is high as well. An administrative official at the Korea Intellectual Property Office expressed satisfaction, saying, “When I was a patent attorney in the private sector, I used to blame the incompetent government. But a first-hand look here reveals a large pool of talent and high levels of professionalism.” Job security of the public sector is another charm.

Invisible Barriers Exist-

The downside is compensation. They earned high salaries in the private sector but saw their annual income cut in half or down to less than half, for some. An accountant-turned-administrative official said, “When I worked for an accounting firm, I earned more than 80 million won per year. But I make less than half of that now, even when adding all the allowances that I can get. I expected it to a degree, but it is a problem.”

Meanwhile, their workload is often heavier. An administrative official at the Health Ministry said, “My workload is so heavy that my wife complains that I come home later than in my previous career, while she expected otherwise. Officials at the central government departments don’t have weekends.” An invisible distinction with those through examination is another burden. The average age of those hired from special employment is 34.4 years, as they have up to 10 years of job experience. This means that the age gap between them and those from exam reaches eight years, as the latter are 26.4 years old on average.

An administrative official with 10 years of job experience said, “As job experience in the private sector is not counted as experience for promotion, I have to wait 10 years from now for promotion. It is not something that I need to worry about now, but I’m still concerned about it.”

Another official said, “There is quite a strong culture among those hired from the exam. I don’t necessarily feel marginalized, but I heard there is an invisible tug of war.”

Downside: High Turnover Rate-

There are considerable numbers of specially employed officials who jump ship because of the large gap between their expectations and reality of civil service.

The Health Ministry appointed 11 people from special employment, but three of them quit within six months. That is one reason that there is some prejudice against specially appointed officials in the organization.

An HR official at the Finance Ministry said, “Some of them apply to boost their career, rather than considering it their lifelong workplace. Therefore, we tend to think that there is a slim chance that those from special employment will remain here until retirement.” This shows that the specially employed are considered less loyal to their organization. In response, a specially employed official at the Ministry of Government Legislation said, “As special employment is still a young system, the test begins only now. I hope there would be some education programs and forms of communication so that the specially employed can better adapt to their new organizations.”

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