Young public servants in Korea are less attached to duty: Survey

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Public servant jobs in South Korea, once considered most coveted for their stable working conditions and retirement pensions, are becoming less attractive among the young people, a survey showed Wednesday.

According to an analysis by Maeil Business Newspaper of a survey data from the Korean Society for Public Personnel Administration, 83.3 percent out of the 120 young public servants surveyed believes that public servants “are just like private office workers that seek economic benefits.”

The public workers surveyed belong to grades from 5 to 9 and are in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s.

The perception of their duty is distant from the current public service regulation, which defines public servants as those that serve the entire nation and prioritize distinguishing between public and private affairs, establishing work discipline, and respecting order.

According to a recent survey on public service status conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, the organizational engagement of public servants was 3.2 out of 5, the lowest since 2017, when the institute began compiling related data.

Organizational engagement, an indicator that measures an organization’s commitment to success, sense of belonging, and willingness to perform duties, has been declining every year since 3.38 in 2017.

The survey was conducted among 6,170 regular government employees from 47 central government agencies and 243 local governments.

“The lack of professionalism has been exacerbated by the outdated personnel system, such as the rotational work system, as public servants do not understand the essence of civil service,” said Lee Geun-myeon, former head of the Ministry of Personnel Management. “We should urgently prepare a roadmap to enhance professionalism along with performance evaluation.”