Xinhua Insight: Civil servant job losing glamor to young elites

The wisdom of China's most celebrated sage Confucius advises "He who excels in learning should pursue officialdom." However, the wise words may no longer apply to today's young elites, as career aspirations grow increasingly diversified.

A civil servant job has long been viewed as glorious and stable by jobseekers in China. Headlines about hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants jostling for one post in public service are relatively commonplace.

But recent news of an increasing number of civil servants leaving for private sector indicates the career-path may be losing appeal.

Job-hunting website zhaopin.com released a survey last week showing that civil servants who quit their jobs after Spring Festival jumped by 30 percent year on year.

While the survey may not be scientific, it is true that young people no longer hold the same admiration they once held for civil servants. Many of the young generation exiting from public service say they are doing so for more money and more balance in their work and life, among other reasons.

"Now, with a salary quadruple what I used to earn as a civil servant, I feel great because I can finally stand on my own feet," Luo Ke, 32, said. In December 2014, Luo became an in-house legal consultant to a national bank after serving at a Beijing intermediate court for five years.

"Previously, with a monthly salary of 5,800 yuan (927 U.S. dollars), I had to rely on my husband and parents for financial support," Luo said. To her, financial independence the most important aspect of a job.

However, in a city where rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city costs 4,000 yuan, a monthly salary of 5,800 yuan makes it hard to get by.

When Luo graduated from China's elite law school, she faced the choice between joining a legal institution or a bank. "At that time, I dismissed a job in a bank as nothing but making money. I was just too young to fathom the importance of money," Luo said.

The financial predicament is made worse by peer pressure.

"My salary as a civil servant was meager compared to the amount my college classmates made," Liu Tao, 30, who left China's commerce ministry for a securities company in 2014, said. Most of her classmates work in law firms and other companies

However, qualifications to get into the commerce ministry were no less challenging than that for prestigious companies.

Reports of civil servants complaining about their pay always invites skepticism, as many believe civil servants make "grey income".

According to Luo's observations, judges of her generation opt out of seeking grey income as path to wealth.

Because qualifications to a court in cities like Beijing are high, her peers are viewed as quite professional. This allows them to land a well-paid job in private sector with relative ease, making it unwise to risk everything for "grey income", Luo explains.

She also sought professional dignity as a civil servant but was frustrated to find professional qualifications and capabilities did not matter as much as bureaucratic skills, such as networking and playing by the rules.

In 2014, ten of Luo's work mates left the court for banking, securities, and Internet industries.

The cooling of "civil servant fever" is also apparent in figures from applicants in 2014.

Some 1.4 million people applied for government jobs in 2014 and almost 900,000 sat the entrance exam, both about 100,000 fewer than that in 2013. The figures are the lowest in five years.

Liu Tao left the commerce ministry not because of the embarrassing income gap between her college peers, but also for lack of a life-work balance which is traditionally regarded as a benefit of public service. But it appears not to be the case.

"Working extra hours was commonplace back in the ministry," Liu recalled. "Sometimes until the middle of the night."

Liu applied for the civil servant job right after graduation as she found the job description suited her academic background. She thought a civil servant job would make her family proud.

When she told her family her intention to quit, she was met with opposition. To her parents' generation, a civil servant job is the best and girls should not prioritize making money.

"They changed their views after visiting me in Beijing," Liu said. When her parents and grandparents came to live with her for a while in Beijing, Liu worked late almost every day.

"They barely saw me during their stay because I came home when they went to bed, and I left home for work before they even got up," she said, "After that visit, they began supporting my decision."

"I had no interest in climbing up the official ranks, so I made up my mind," Liu said, content with her current job which is well paid and less demanding in terms of workload. Endi