Fewer Apply to Public Service Work

▽ Fewer jobseekers want to be public servants

Until last year, public service work used to be described as a “God-given job” with the steadily increasing number of applicants. But recently, the number is dropping.

The number of students taking classes for the preparation of state-administered examinations, such as the National Civil Service Examination, at academic institute A and B in Noryangjin in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, fell about 20 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Large private institute C (Busan) and D (Daejeon), both specializing in state-run exam preparations, also saw the number of students drop by 50 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Hanyang University in Seoul cancelled the Level 7 Public Employment Preparation Class, run for juniors and seniors, citing the lack of participants this semester.

The number of applicants for the Level 9 Public Employment Examination decreased by 21,788 last month, compared to a year ago, despite the increase in the number of open positions by 469.

The situation is similar in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, where academic institutes for civil service exams are concentrated.

“In Sillim-dong, there was about a 30 percent drop overall in the number of people who are preparing for the National Civil Service Examination,” said a staff of an academy. “It is mostly because preparing for the PSAT (Public Service Aptitude Test) is a challenging task for students, and also because the government plans to restructure the public sector.”

▽ People do not want to be “servants”

The reason for this drop in the popularity of public jobs apparently is because the government has been showing its strong will to restructure the public sector, with President Lee Myung-bak saying outright that public servants should really become the people’s servants.

A survey held by job referral service Career in January showed that 34.2 percent of the respondents who are preparing for public employment exams were considering quitting the preparation because of the government’s restructuring plan.

Ahn Wan-gyo, an employee of job portal Incruit, said, “Most of the people who give up their plan to take public employment exams doubt job security. People with higher English test scores and more qualification certificates are highly likely to drop out.”

Cho, 25, a Sungkyunkwan University student who has been preparing for the National Civil Service Examination for three years, said, “Nowadays, those who are preparing for the exam often ask themselves whether they are only studying hard to be servants.”

▽ The private sector needs more talents

Experts view the decrease in the number of people preparing for government employment exams as a positive phenomenon for national competitiveness.

Professor Kim Jong-seong of Chungnam National University said, “The public sector should play a supplementary role to the private sector. The merits in public employment should become weaker so that people with talents will prefer jobs in the private sector.”