While college students' preference for public servant positions and public enterprises has decreased nationwide, it has been confirmed that it is the same for Pusan National University (PNU) students. It is analyzed as a result of self-realization and high salary being revealed as essential factors in employment.

The Federation of Korean Industries (KFI) recently announced that college students’ preference for public servant positions and public enterprises has decreased. According to the “2022 College Student Employment Awareness Survey” released by KFI on October 23rd, preferred jobs were large companies (20.4%), medium-sized companies (19.0%), public enterprises such as public corporations (17.8%), public servant positions (16.2%), small businesses (11.9%), and venture businesses & startups (7.0%). This is contrary to the fact that public enterprises (18.3%) ranked first and public servant positions (17.3%) ranked third in 2021.

This tendency of decline in preference for public office was the same in PNU. “Channel PNU” conducted a “PNU students’ employment awareness survey” among 132 PNU students from November 9th to 16th. It found that the most preferred job was large companies (35.6%), followed by public enterprises such as public corporations (29.5%), public servant positions (18.9%), medium-sized companies (6.8%), venture businesses & startups (2.3%), and freelancers (1.5%).

Unlike in the past, when public office jobs were emerging as promising jobs, the reason for the decline in preference for public servant positions seems to be due to changes in employment awareness. In the survey, PNU students cited interest and self-realization (34.1%), salary (27.3%), working environment and welfare (24.2%), stability (13.6%), and perceptions of surrounding people (0.8%) as the most critical factors in employment. Self-realization and salary rather than stability have become important factors in choosing a job. Kim Ji-Eun, a counselor of the Office of Career Development, said, “Public servant positions are preferred jobs in terms of stability. But the preference for public servant positions seems to have decreased as the wage gap between general companies and public servant positions has widened, and the pension plan of public servants has changed.”

However, public enterprises and public servant positions are still ranked high in preferred jobs. Respondents cited job stability, fairness in evaluation, guaranteed salary and welfare, and eligibility for those who have not completed their military service to take the test as reasons. Yoo Sang-Ah (the Dept. of English Language Education, 20), who is preparing for the civil service exam, said, “I’ve heard that pensions can be reduced. But I am preparing for it because it is a stable job and something I can do with a sense of mission. I am interested in national policies such as education, so I want to become a public servant and strive for field reform.”

Counselor Kim said, “While counseling, I found that PNU students’ preference for public enterprises has not decreased significantly until this year. However, there seems to be room for a slight decrease in future preferences due to articles that the overall employment scale will be maintained or decreased from next year.”

Reporter Kim Hyun-Kyoung

Translated by Kwon Eun-Ji