Mr Steerpike was interested to read over the Christmas break that young people are currently flocking to join China’s civil service, attracted by the job stability it offers compared to the volatile private sector, and seeking to escape the country’s relatively high youth unemployment.
According to the Reuters piece, the civil service is still seen by young people as an ‘iron rice bowl’, or job for life. Readers may be reminded of our own ‘Rolls-Royce’ civil service, where even the most incompetent bureaucrats are shuffled between departments rather than ever fired – the ‘iron hot desk’, perhaps.
But Mr S was struck by one part of the Reuters piece in particular: that despite long-standing calls for Beijing to reduce the size of its ‘bloated’ state sector, the civil service has grown from 6.9 million in 2010 to 8 million today.
Eight million is a large number – roughly the population of London, for example.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in