Opinion

No return to the 'iron rice bowl'

By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-03 08:10

When I graduated from university four years ago, a classmate got a job as a municipal civil servant and bragged that he could spend his days doing very little, but still enjoy a better-than-average salary and welfare package. I thought he didn't have goals in life and I pitied him.

But overnight such people have become an object of envy, as the job of a civil servant is now among the most wanted in China.

It is reported that a record 1 million people took the civil service exam this year, compared with about 700,000 last year. But only one in 66 candidates will land a job.

A recent survey showed 38 percent of new graduates choose civil servant as their first employment choice.

The most wanted position is a job at China's Disabled Federation (CDF) where the ratio of applications to available positions is 4,723 to one.

I wonder if all these applicants want to dedicate themselves to public service or simply want to enjoy a good salary and welfare package without doing much.

China is developing rapidly, and talents are needed in every social and economic sector in addition to government. It could be harmful to the country's overall development if all the well-educated people only want to be civil servants.

In the early 1990s, many talented people quit their government jobs to pursue their dreams of starting their own business and becoming rich. People say this entrepreneurial spirit has been a driving force in China's fast social and economic development.

What an irony that this trend has now been reversed, when China needs more entrepreneurs to keep up its momentum and in an environment that is more conducive to personal success.

I worry about the future of our country if the majority of new graduates want to return to the "iron rice bowl" that past generations worked so hard to break.