CHINA
Low pay and long hours in China’s Public Service are no deterrent to many citizens, with roughly 63 applications for each vacancy.
While a job with the Government is not as popular as it once was, there were still about 920,000 applicants taking last December’s examination for the 14,500 positions available.
The previous year, more than 1.1 million people sat the test, although there were almost twice as many positions available.
Sarah Shen, a salesperson from Nanjing, said even though she was aware of the reduced benefits and low salary, she was still drawn to the job.
“Being inside the Government system means stability,” Ms Shen said.
She said working at a private company didn’t come with many benefits or a great salary either.
“On top of that, you can be fired at any time, or your company may close down,” Ms Shen said.
She said being in sales was a high-stress job, as she was always under pressure to meet her monthly target.
By comparison, her friends who worked in the Public Service seemed to have much more time to spend with their families.
For others, the lure of the Public Service was the opportunity to play a part in implementing Government policy.
Not everyone regards the Public Service as a calling; many PS staff are leaving for the private sector and the lure of larger pay packets.
A PS employee in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, who wanted to remain anonymous, said a number of his friends had left the Public Service and joined the private sector in recent years.
One, a former Deputy Director of a District Committee of the Communist Party, left to join an investment fund because he had simply lost interest in his work and wanted a change.
However, the anonymous officer said he would never leave the Public Service “because I lack the skills and professional knowledge to survive outside it”.
Beijing, 23 April 2019
