After the National Assembly Audit, Are Aides Facing a Cold Season?... The Truth Behind the 'November Unemployment Month(?)' Claim

Political Circles, Rumors of Mass Staff Layoffs After November National Audit
Verification of Secretariat Data Shows No Significant Increase in November Resignations

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] It has been a week since the National Assembly's audit began. During the audit period, it is not uncommon to see lawmakers' aides at the National Assembly Members' Office Building battling through piles of documents and working late into the night. Buried in materials and fighting with audited institutions, lawmakers and their aides spend the entire month of October treating the audit like a war.

Lawmakers' enthusiasm for the audit partly stems from a sense of duty to review the overall state affairs once a year, but the political structure where audit performance directly affects lawmakers' evaluations also plays a role. While a big success would be ideal, at least achieving a certain level of results is necessary. The reason why lawmakers' aides desperately carry out the audit is similar.

For this reason, there is a saying in the National Assembly that November is the season of mass layoffs. It is said that the fate of aides is decided based on the lawmaker's audit performance. Classified as special service public officials under the National Public Service Act and not covered by the Labor Standards Act, aides can be dismissed at any time by the lawmaker's decision. Those aides who fail to meet expectations during the audit can become unemployed with just a word from their lawmaker.

In fact, looking at the recruitment announcements on the National Assembly website last year, there were 17 postings in October but 34 in November. Based on numbers alone, it appears that more recruitment procedures took place after the audit. However, since the National Assembly's hiring process involves various steps such as recommendations beyond just announcements, the actual scale of resignations cannot be accurately determined.

For this reason, Asia Economy, with the help of the National Assembly Secretariat, analyzed the monthly resignation numbers of aides over 20 years, and the number of resignations in November, after the audit, was different from common expectations.

Over 20 years (2002?2021), the average number of resignations in November was 56 cases. This is even lower than the average monthly resignation number over the past 20 years. Rather, resignation numbers tend to increase at the beginning of the new year. January had 92 cases, February 80, and March 93. Resignations are actually higher when the new year begins or when lawmakers' assigned standing committees change.

Compared to the annual average resignation numbers, November saw a high number of resignations only twice: in November 2007 and November 2015.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Looking only at past trends, there is no immediate large-scale reshuffle right after the audit. Of course, this does not mean that no aides pack their bags in November due to the audit. It just means the number is not as high as expected. Rather, since aides can leave at any time throughout the year, the number of resignations in November may not stand out.

Monthly Resignation Count of National Assembly Members' Aides Over the Past 20 Years (Source: National Assembly Secretariat)

Statistically, the month with the highest number of aides' resignations is not November but May. The average number of resignations in May is 559. This is actually a statistical illusion. Every four years, when lawmakers' terms expire, all aides are automatically dismissed, causing a large spike in resignations. Considering this, the May statistics were averaged excluding the term-end year, and even then, May had the highest average monthly resignations at 99 cases. This is presumed to be because aides are largely replaced every two years when the standing committee assignments change. Lawmakers whose standing committees change often dismiss existing staff and recruit so-called 'players' for the new committee.

Additionally, resignation numbers tend to increase right after local elections or presidential elections. It is presumed that aides resign more frequently when they run as candidates themselves or move to newly established governments (or local governments).

It is also confirmed that resignation numbers have increased year by year. However, this is more strongly linked to the staffing situation of National Assembly aides rather than a deterioration in employment stability. For example, during the 16th to 18th National Assembly, aides consisted of 2 level-4 aides, 1 level-5 secretary, 1 level-6 secretary, 1 level-7 secretary, and 1 level-9 secretary, totaling 6 people. From the 18th to 20th National Assembly (end of 2017), this increased to 2 level-4 aides, 2 level-5 secretaries, 1 level-6 secretary, 1 level-7 secretary, and 1 level-9 secretary, totaling 7 people. Currently, it has expanded to 2 level-4 aides, 2 level-5 secretaries, 1 level-6 secretary, 1 level-7 secretary, 1 level-8 secretary, and 1 level-9 secretary, totaling 8 people.

Moreover, in 2021 alone, the number of aide resignations reached 1,237 cases. Considering that each of the 300 lawmakers' offices could have a full staff of 8 aides, totaling 2,400 aides, about half of them resigned. This reflects one aspect of the unstable employment situation of National Assembly aides.

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