More Gen MZ public servants quit over pay, work culture

Social Affairs

Published: 25 Jun. 2023, 09:00

More Gen MZ public servants quit over pay, work culture

People taking the grade 9 civil servant examination head to a school in Seocho District, southern Seoul to take the examination on April 8. [NEWS1]

Many young public servants are leaving their jobs in Korea due to low compensation and an unfriendly work culture.

Being a civil servant was once considered a “dream job” in the country.

Members of the so-called Generation MZ working in public institutes cite pay that is lower than that of part-time workers at convenience stores and promotions that are slow in coming as their reasons for quitting.

A 29-year-old grade 9 civil servant, the lowest rank for a public official, currently working at the Korea Customs Service decided to quit this year after a four-year tenure.

“Promotions are slow and I need to live off a 1.8 million won ($1,390) monthly compensation unless I work overtime,” the public servant said.

“Public servants are not considered laborers so we do not receive any unemployment benefits and almost no severance pay, but I believe finding new work or setting up my own business is a smarter choice.”

Civil servant was once an extremely popular job in Korea as employees seldom needed to worry about layoffs.

But according to a survey conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration last year, around 45.2 percent of 6,000 public servants said they are willing to move to a new job if given the opportunity. Of those who wished to get a new job, some 65.3 percent were in their 20s and 30s, with less than five years of industry experience.

According to Government Employees Pension Service, a growing number of public servants between the age group of 20s and 40s quit their jobs. The number rose almost twofold from 6,039 in 2018 to 11,693 in 2022.

The biggest reason for civil servants quitting their jobs is their extremely low salaries.

The monthly pay of grade 9 public servants starts from 1.77 million won and that of grade 7 civil servants from 1.96 million won, according to the Ministry of Personnel Management.

These salaries are even lower than the minimum monthly compensation of 2.01 million won.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Personnel Management every year, the level of compensation for civil servants compared to those working at private companies stood at 83.1 percent last year, a new low since the survey began in 2000.

“Even though we are civil servants, we need to be paid with minimum pay to sustain our living,” the 29-year-old public servant said.

“If the current salary table is maintained, outstanding talents will no longer stay in these positions.”

Civil servants are no longer satisfied with the stability and the sense of duty that the role provides alongside the low salary. They also complain about the inflexible working culture in these public institutes.

“MZers believe they should receive in relation to the amount of work they have done, but as public servant jobs require sacrifice for the country and the public, it is difficult for them to accept such a culture,” Park Hong-yoon, an honorary professor at the public administration department of the Korea National University of Transportation, said.

An isolating work culture that tends to cover up any incidents of bullying within the organization is another contributing factor. Many employees tend not to help their colleagues dealing with such incidents, civil servants say,

“Many starting off as a public servant already acknowledge they will not earn a lot of money, but since they have no idea how stressful it will be to deal with complaints, it is very painful if they actually face this situation,” Park added.

“It has also become a culture for those who work at a team dealing with people’s complaints to go on an annual leave.”

These reasons are why many take their own lives.

According to Democratic Party Rep. Choi Hye-young’s office, a total of 49 public servants took their own lives last year. In May this year, there were already five civil servants who were reported by local media outlets as making such a decision.

They all reportedly experienced workplace bullying, difficulty in responding to people’s complaints and were transferred to a team that is unpopular with most employees.

“Unlike private companies, those dealing with people’s complaints respond to them all by themselves due to the working culture of seniors and colleagues refusing to lend a hand, causing them to take their own lives,” said Kim Tae-yoon, a public administration professor at Hanyang University, adding that it is primarily young civil servants with the lowest years of work experience who usually deal with complaints.

Local governments are now drawing up measures to further prevent the exodus of young civil servants.

The Ministry of Personnel Management implemented a system for those civil servants in the lower tiers — lower than grade 6 — to be promoted quickly to grade 5.

The Wonju city government announced it would set up programs offering counseling sessions for their workers and investigate any bullying within the organization after losing two civil servants within a month in May.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government also decided to offer five additional annual leave days to civil servants who have worked more than 5 years but less than 10 years.

But many point out that it is not holidays and counseling sessions that the civil servants need, but is a revamp in the organization itself.

“The structure that puts all sorts of responsibility squarely on young civil servants in the low tier should be amended,” Kim said.

“It is about time that jobs and responsibilities be readjusted and improvements made to the hierarchical and closed working culture to let those in the higher grades deal with complaints instead of those in the lower ones.”

BY OH YOO-JIN, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]