The South Korean Government’s aggressive hiring of Public Servants is prompting concerns about the snowballing cost to taxpayers.
According to data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Government Organisation Management System, there were nearly 1.098 million Public Servants in place at the end of last June.
The data shows that an average of 29,150 new Public Servants were hired every year since President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017 — about three times the annual average of 9,498 during the Park Geun-hye presidency and about 14 times the Lee Myung-bak administration’s average of 2,027.
Administration sources said the number of Public Servants would continue to grow.
Mr Moon has promised to hire 174,000 workers during his five-year presidency.
According to the National Assembly Budget Office, hiring 174,000 entry-level Public Servants would require an additional 328 trillion won ($A39 billion) over the next 30 years.
A civic group, the Korea Taxpayers Association, estimates that the Government would need to spend more than 419 trillion won ($A50 billion) on its total workforce.
Neither amount includes pensions paid to retired Public Servants.
The Moon Government has said it is hiring more Public Servants to put a dent in youth unemployment and improve the quality of Government services.
However, some analysts claim that more jobs in the public sector actually reduce employment in the private sector.
According to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 1.5 private sector jobs disappear for each new public sector job.
Experts also worry that many people will stop looking for private sector jobs in order to prepare for the examination to qualify for a Public Service career.
An average of 250,000 people apply to take the examination every year.
The Hyundai Research Institute said that while they were doing this they were not participating in economic activity.
Professor of Economics at Korea University, Kang Sung-jin said the number of unemployed people preparing for the examination would grow.
“The competitiveness of private companies will be affected because they miss the opportunity of hiring capable workers,” Professor Kang said.
Seoul, 8 January 2021
