No longer an iron rice bowl? Is public service losing its appeal to the new generation?

SINGAPORE: When a Reddit user asked if public service is losing its appeal to the new generation of Singaporeans, a lively discussion ensued.

After all, public service has traditionally been pretty prestigious in Singapore, with very competitive salaries and virtually no corruption.

But u/thedesertman1 wrote in a July 10 post on r/askSingapore that they have a friend working in human resources in public service who has said that it’s been difficult to find people to fill junior positions these days.

They added that because of bureaucracy and red tape, the public sector loses out to the private sector in quickly securing top candidates.

The post author added that young people today seem to be desire to work more in multinational tech companies such as Bytedance (the parent company of TikTok), Shopee, Amazon, Google, Meta, and other companies where the vibe is more free-spirited.

Younger people these days also have a more “YOLO” (you only live once) attitude, which makes them drawn more toward novelties such as start-ups.

The post author added in an edit that they’ve seen a number of LinkedIn profiles of people who join the private sector after a few years in public service, adding that even some “very senior directors also left to join” the private sector.

In response, a Reddit user wrote that the unique selling proposition, or USP, of the civil service used to be “iron rice bowl and stability.”

“Iron rice bowl” is a Chinese idiom referred to a system of guaranteed lifetime employment. However, the commenter wrote that nowadays, civil service jobs are one-, two- or three-year contracts, which is, understandably, makes public service not nearly as appealing as it used to be.

But another person answered this, writing that “contracts” usually turn into permanent hires.

Another netizen wrote that salaries may be the reason why, with the gap between private and public sector salaries having widened in the last ten years.

“So it is natural for the private sector to become more attractive,” they wrote, adding, “Increasingly, some of the best students aren’t going for public sector scholarships too. Why get bonded 4-6 years with a starting pay of 4k+ in the public sector, when you can earn 8-10k as a fresh grad if you are a top talent working in the private sector?”

Others argued that the environment in the public sector is not very good.

One called it a “a retirement village unless you’re a scholar or you have an undying desire to serve the nation.”

Some argued that since there are more young people in startups, others are naturally more attracted to work in the private sector, and one made the case for “a stronger private sector than public… usually means a thriving market and economy.” /TISG

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