The military is facing challenges in securing civilian workers responsible for administrative and logistical support as troop numbers decline. Last year, the military was unable to fill one out of every five positions in its civilian workforce recruitment. With the competition ratio falling each year, the hiring rate has dropped below 80% for the first time in five years, raising concerns about the military's personnel management.
According to data on military civilian worker recruitment rates submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to Seong Il-jong, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, the number of positions available last year was 5,140, but only 4,073 candidates were successful. This resulted in a hiring rate of 79.2%, falling short by 1,067 positions.
This is the lowest hiring rate in the past five years. The hiring rate for military civilian workers increased from 88.2% in 2021 to 89.1% in 2022 and 90.5% in 2023, but then dropped to 89.4% in 2024 before plummeting to 79.2% last year. This marks a 10.2 percentage point decline in just one year, and it is 11.3 percentage points lower than in 2023.
Notably, despite an increase in recruitment numbers last year, the number of applicants decreased. The recruitment numbers rose from 4,357 in 2024 to 5,140 last year, an increase of 783 (18.0%), but the number of applicants fell from 30,409 to 26,905, a decrease of 3,504 (11.5%).
The number of successful candidates only increased by 177, from 3,896 to 4,073. Consequently, the gap between the number of positions available and the number of successful candidates widened from 461 to 1,067, approximately 2.3 times larger. Although the military aimed to increase the number of hires, the actual selection did not keep pace.
The competition ratio for military civilian worker recruitment has declined for five consecutive years. The ratio fell from 9.4 to 9.3 in 2022, then to 8.5 in 2023, 7.0 in 2024, and finally to 5.2 last year.
The decrease in applicants is also evident. The number of applicants dropped from 70,853 in 2021 to 67,426 in 2022, 39,472 in 2023, 30,409 in 2024, and 26,905 last year. The number of applicants last year was 43,948 (62.0%) fewer than in 2021. Despite a reduction in recruitment numbers from 7,574 to 5,140 during the same period, the competition ratio fell because the number of applicants decreased even more sharply.
The difficulty in securing military civilian workers is intertwined with the military's challenge of responding to a decrease in conscription resources. The Ministry of National Defense announced in August that it would develop a military restructuring plan to address the decline in conscription resources and changes in the nature of future warfare.
Military civilian workers handle various tasks essential for military operations, including administration, maintenance, supply, and technical support. If the military continues to struggle to secure these personnel as planned, the workload for existing civilian workers and active-duty soldiers will increase, potentially limiting the ability to focus active personnel on combat missions.
Seong stated, "Military civilian workers are not provided with working conditions commensurate with their responsibilities, which are similar to those of soldiers. There is an urgent need for special measures to improve hiring rates, including enhancing welfare benefits and salary adjustments."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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