China Focus

Record numbers sit for China civil service exam, hoping

for job security

By Bernard Orr / Reuters 27 Nov 2023, 04:51 pm

BEIJING (Nov 27): More than three million people took China's annual civil
service exam on the weekend, state media reported on Monday, a record
number that underscores young people's concerns about getting a secure job
in a rocky economy.

With stubbornly high youth employment in the world's second-largest

economy, the prospect of a less glamorous career in the civil service is
increasingly attractive as private sector job opportunities dwindle.

"After all, the general environment is not good," one user of the Weibo social
media platform said of economic prospects as posts about the civil service
exam surged.
"Companies are laying off employees and closing down in large numbers. It is
not stable at all, so I have to choose to be a civil servant. The less earnings is
fine. At least I won't be unemployed and starve to death."

The exam was held simultaneously in 237 cities across the country on Sunday,
the state-run China Daily reported.

A record high of 39,600 vacancies are up for grabs at central government

agencies and affiliated institutions. On average, 77 candidates are competing
for every position, the Global Times newspaper reported.

China is struggling to get its economy back on track after Covid-19 and the
government has introduced a rash of policy measures, including strengthening
financial support for private companies,

The number of people trying to get into graduate school has also declined, the
China News Network reported, with a researcher at the China National
Academy of Educational Sciences citing insecurity about work as a factor.

"For many undergraduate graduates, if they can find a job now, they will
definitely prefer to work as soon as possible, said researcher Chu Zhaohui.

"Many people's expectations of finding a job after graduate school are

relatively low."

The Global Times reported that the number of civil service jobs had increased
for the past five years. Last year, nearly 2.6 million candidates competed for
37,100 vacancies.