Retirement Age Extension
Discussion Should Be Had by Next Government
The government deserves a fair part of the blame for having been bent-on expanding the public apparatus and increasing its number of civil servants. The growing call for smaller government has fallen on deaf ears again when representatives from the government and union of government employees agreed to extend the retirement age for grade six and lower level civil servants officials from the current 57 to 60.
Given the tendency toward an aging society, we need to seriously consider a comprehensive program with its far-flung impact upon all of society. But this does not necessarily mean that the plan has to be hurried through. The next government is expected to embark on full-fledged efforts toward a smaller government, which means any plan regarding the retirement age should be delayed for the time being.
It is not desirable for the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) to have conceded to the unionists' demand. It appears a case of wooing their support with only a few days left before the presidential election on Dec. 19. The governing camp, with its looming defeat in the presidential poll, has also felt the need to prepare for the parliamentary elections in April, next year. Policy is generally doomed to failure if it is politically motivated.
Extending the retirement age effectively means increasing the number of officials, as it requires additional wages. The government has already expanded the officials' quota by 65,000, resulting in an added 6.6 trillion won in wage costs over the past five years. This means a 7 percent wage increase on average per year.
The government has claimed the expansion of the apparatus had been needed to ensure more efficient government with further services for the people. But according to the Institute of International Management Development (IMD) based in Switzerland, the nation's competitiveness in the area of administrative efficiency was 31st among 55 assessed nations. This represented a drop from 26th in 2002.
The government needs to learn from the case of France, which has recently come with a plan for a cut of 100,000 officials in the next five years while curtailing the government's budget. The administrative expense, for instance, will be decreased by 25 percent, according to the plan initiated by French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
The government should consider the introduction of a new system for assessing the performance of officials before trying to extend the retirement age so that any official who fails to make the grade may be subject to punishment or even dismissal. It is a way of strengthening competitiveness and efficiency in officialdom. The public sector needs to show examples and sacrifice first for young people who are desperate to get jobs. Extending the retirement age will only reduce the chances for youngsters to become civil servants.