Reform of Civil Service Recruitment System

Recently， two news articles on the practice of employing civil servants attracted widespread attention. One article covered a story of five newly employed civil servants in yiwu of east Chinas Zhejiang Province， who are to receive an annual salary of no less than 300，000 yuan （$48，000）， much higher than the salary level for the vast majority of Chinas civil servants. The other piece discussed the fact that several years after the local government in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， began to adopt the contractual employment system for civil servants， none of the more than 3，200 employed have been dismissed.

Contractual hiring of civil servants is still a new effort in reforming the recruitment of civil servants， and its effect remains to be seen. Will it improve Chinas existing civil service management system？ The following are excerpts of opinions：

Song Shiming （China Youth Daily）： According to Chinas Civil Service Law， government departments can hire civil servants on a contractual basis for highly professional or assistant positions as long as it is in line with requirements for the specific work.

Under this new contract system， government departments no longer need to train personnel with special professional techniques within the existent civil service teams， but they can directly choose already skilled individuals from the workforce. Indeed， under the current civil service examination is almost impossible to recruit such talented people. Even if people with these skills have joined the civil service， at the current salary level it is impossible to attract exceptional individuals in any sector. Another reason for the adoption of contracts is that， its unnecessary to offer a lifetime position to one who does simple work， such as a typist.

The signing of the written employment contract poses as a gesture to break the permanent employment for civil servants. For years， as long as one had passed the civil service examination and was employed， its almost impossible for them to lose their jobs if they dont make serious mistakes. For contractually employed civil servants however， rights and obligations for both sides are explicitly written on contracts. For instance， an employed civil servant must fulfill certain tasks before he or she can receive salaries. When the contract expires， the position for a temporary civil servant no longer exists， but if the position is to be kept for some more time， then the contract has to be renewed. This marks a big change.endprint

In countries where an employed civil servant mechanism is quite mature， there are detailed explanations and regulations for the dismissal of such people.

Liu Xiangling （www.rednet.cn）： The contract system for civil servants offers higher salary even triggers envy among the public， and questions arise.

Why in Shenzhen， after the three-year contracts expired， was no one dismissed？ Isnt this contract system the same as the old jobfor-life employment system？ However， from a more objective perspective， the fact that one is not dismissed after three years serving in a government post does not mean that he or she will not be dismissed after five or 10 yearsemployment. Another possibility is that， these temporary civil servants value their jobs and work even harder than common civil servants， and as a result managed to stay employed.

Nobody should envy contractual workers who receive high salaries， but it should be regarded as an effective way to attract people of special qualifications.

A doctoral degree， special techniques and also rich experience， these qualities are possessed by the same person. Not many people can be so excellent as this. As far as this person is concerned， even if he or she does not enter the civil service， high salaries are also within easy reach. His or her choice of the job may be because of their true love for this profession. We have to wait and see to what extent these civil servants can help government work and its still too early to deny them and deny this new employment system.

Ding yongxun （Dajiang Evening News）： In many places， the adoption of the em- ployment system for civil servants helps to expand the channels for the government to take advantage of skilled personnel， as its almost impossible to employ such people through current recruitment model. The five new civil servants employed by the local government in yiwu will be put into very professional posts. Those who have no special or professional capacities or relevant experience will find it impossible to fit in.

In this way， people with special skills are interested in serving at government departments will find somewhere to go， and the contract system will also help to improve the overall managing and service capability of the civil service team.

However， without a proper sacking mechanism to remove the incapable or incompetent， such people will remain in their posts and this new practice will do nothing to increase the efficiency of staff in government departments.endprint

The current civil service management system is still lacking in effective assessment standards on the staffs performance. It is thus impossible to assess temporary civil servantswork， and there are no channels for them to be promoted. High salaries alone might lose their charm over days. Another problem is， if these contractual employees are paid too much， formal civil servants may feel unfair， and this will result in a discouraging effect.

Wang Chuantao （Baotou Evening News）： The Civil Service Law that took effect in 2006 defines the sphere within which the contract for civil servants can be practiced and also the ways to practice it. However， except for several pilot cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai， this system is not really put into practice throughout the country.

What has hindered the steps forward？ The biggest bottleneck is the staffing quota which leads to civil servants never getting dismissed as long as he or she makes no major mistakes， and there are only promotions after years of work， but never demotion. Breaking up this mechanism is necessary for pushing forward the employment system. Besides， like reform in any areas， when the practice affects the interests of those who possess current privileges， resistance will come up. When these two major issues have been properly handled， the employment system can be truly implemented in broader areas across the country.endprint