Turnover, retention rates among public servants worsening
By Chung Li-hua and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writer
For the past four years, more than 55 percent of civil servants quit after working less than five years, with the turnover rate reaching a new high last year, a report by the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said.
The center released the figures as part of the central government’s general budget for next year.
The turnover rate for civil servants remained high in the past few years, with 18,072 central and local civil servants quitting their jobs from 2022 to last year, the report said.
The Executive Yuan building in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Of all those who quit during the period, 5,965 were first-time civil servants and had less than five years of service, accounting for 55 percent, it said.
The number of first-timers with less than five years of experience who quit rose from 1,341 people in 2022 to 1,652 last year, the report said.
They represented the bulk of resignations across the public sector over the period, at rates from 51.53 to 59.43 percent, surpassing 50 percent each year, it said.
The High Court and its subordinate courts had the highest number of new-hire resignations for employees with less than five years of experience at 419, the report said.
It was followed by the Ministry of Justice and its agencies’ 386 people, the Veterans Affairs Council and its agencies’ 343 people, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and its agencies’ 264 people, and the Ministry of the Interior and its agencies’ 231 people, it said.
There were 3,323 resignations across local governments nationwide over the same period: 2,355 resignations in the six major municipalities, much higher than the other administrative areas’ total of 968 people, the report said.
The six special municipalities made up 71 percent of such short-tenure resignations across local governments, it said.
The budget center said that civil service retirements are increasing.
Fewer people are signing up for the national civil service examination, while shortfalls in recruitment are growing year by year, it said, adding the technical categories had the biggest shortfalls.
The authorities should identify the root cause of the shortfalls and enhance their employee assistance measures, the center said.
The goal is to develop strong public service workforces and friendly workspaces, increasing the government’s administrative efficiency, it said.
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