In Response to Yoon's Pledge for a 'Small Government'... Public Service Exam Candidates Sigh

Yoon Advocates 'Small Government' "Will Expand Private Sector-Led Jobs"
Government Slimming Announced... Civil Service Exam Candidates 'Anxious' Over 'Public Employee Reduction' Signal
"There Is a Gap... It's Confusing Every Time the Administration Changes"

Public service exam candidates studying at an academy in Noryangjin. Photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] "I have a two-year gap during my civil service exam preparation period... Is it possible to move to the private sector?"

As President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol advocates for a 'small government' and announces a government organizational restructuring, anxiety is growing among examinees who have been preparing for civil service and public enterprise jobs.

The Presidential Transition Committee has announced plans to maximize efficiency through a kind of slimming down by reducing the number of civil servants and ministries, raising concerns that the number of civil servants might be cut.

Moreover, since President-elect Yoon has pledged to 'expand private sector jobs,' changes in employment policies are expected, causing frustration among public service exam candidates (Gongsi-saeng) who have been preparing for employment in line with the Moon Jae-in administration's policy of expanding 'public sector jobs,' saying they cannot properly prepare for the exams.

Lee (25), a Gongsi-saeng who has been preparing for the 9th-grade food hygiene civil service exam for two years, said, "After graduating from university, I am preparing for the civil service exam in a job that utilizes my major. The competition is fierce to the extent that you have to get almost all the questions right to pass, so I often feel anxious while preparing. Now that there are talks about cuts under the Yoon Seok-yeol government, I am bewildered. The already narrow door is getting narrower, and I feel scared and gloomy," he confessed.

He added, "Some say becoming a civil servant is easy, but sitting and studying for long hours is really tough. Considering the time I have invested, the cost of books, online lectures, study cafe fees, and exam fees, it's hard to give up now. Also, because of the gap created during the preparation period, I am afraid to switch to the private sector," he said.

The photo is not related to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Many posts expressing anxiety about the possibility of job reductions are appearing on Gongsi-saeng communities. On the 28th, user A of an online Gongsi-saeng community said, "There is always talk that this year is the last chance, but since the TO (number of openings) is definitely decreasing, I am so worried that I can't sleep well."

There are also criticisms that the reduction of civil servants will directly harm young people. Kim (24), a university student, said, "Employment policies change every time the administration changes, so it's confusing. Except for Samsung, there are no regular large company recruitments, so what are young people about to graduate supposed to do? Since the recruitment doors of companies are narrow, many students start preparing for civil service exams from their second or third year, so I think they will be confused."

According to Statistics Korea, 3 out of 10 job seekers are Gongsi-saeng. The 'May 2021 Economic Activity Population Survey Youth Supplement' shows that among the youth non-economic active population, 859,000 were preparing for employment exams (based on the past week), and among them, 278,316 (32.4%) were preparing for general civil service positions.

Also, according to the Ministry of Personnel Management, 165,524 people applied for the 9th-grade national civil service open recruitment exam this year, and considering those preparing for public institution entrance exams, the scale is expected to be even larger.

The expansion of the Gongsi-saeng population is due to the Moon Jae-in administration's public sector-centered employment policy, which significantly increased civil servant recruitment. According to the office of Lee Myung-soo, a member of the People Power Party, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 28th, the number of civil servants increased by 130,000 during the five years of the Moon administration, marking the largest scale ever.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is meeting with Koichi Aiboshi, the Ambassador of Japan to Korea, at the 20th Presidential Transition Committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 28th. Photo by the Transition Committee Press Corps

The Moon Jae-in administration explained that the increase in civil servants was focused on areas closely related to citizens' lives and safety, but there was considerable dissatisfaction with increasing so-called 'iron rice bowl' civil servant positions. As the number of civil servants increases, the national fiscal burden grows due to personnel expenses and pensions.

In this context, Lee Yong-ho, a member of the People Power Party and secretary of the Political, Judicial, and Administrative Affairs Subcommittee of the Transition Committee, said on the 25th at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, "It is necessary to streamline the bloated public sector to an appropriate level," and announced plans to create a small government.

Professor Kim Tae-gi of Dankook University's Department of Economics said, "The Yoon Seok-yeol government basically plans to create jobs through revitalizing private enterprises in line with market capitalism philosophy. In particular, job creation through expanding large company employment is expected to produce quality jobs." He added, "Although Gongsi-saeng expect the number of positions to decrease, recruitment will proceed for already decided positions. It is also expected that the concentration on civil service and public enterprises will be alleviated through job creation in large companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.