Local Talent Surpasses 30% in Grade 7 Civil Service Exam for the First Time... Increase in Female and STEM Managers

Ministry of Personnel Management Publishes Annual Balanced Workforce Report

Local Talent Ratio at 31.1%, Up 2.1 Percentage Points from Previous Year

Female Senior Officials at 14.3%; Female Managers in Local Governments at 38.8%

STEM

The proportion of regional talent selected in the open competitive examination for grade 7 central government officials exceeded 30% for the first time last year. The proportion of female managers and executives with science and engineering backgrounds also increased, indicating that human resource diversity within the public sector is expanding. However, despite an increase in the number of newly hired employees with disabilities, the employment rate of people with disabilities in central government ministries remained stagnant, and even declined slightly in local governments.

On September 30, the Ministry of Personnel Management announced the publication of the "2026 Annual Report on Balanced Human Resources in the Public Sector," which covers the status for 2025 by sector, including gender equality, science and engineering, people with disabilities, and regional talents. Since 2018, the Ministry has been issuing an annual report to enhance human resource diversity in central ministries, local governments, and public institutions.

Regional Talents: 31.1%—First Ever to Top 30%

Last year, the proportion of regional talents selected in the grade 7 open competitive exam for central government ministries reached 31.1%, up 2.1 percentage points from 29.0% the previous year. This is the first time that the government's 30% selection target has been exceeded.

Regional talent recruitment works such that, for the grade 5 and 7 open competitive exams, if the number of successful candidates from schools outside Seoul falls short of the target, additional candidates within a fixed cutoff are selected. This aims to enhance regional representation in public office and broaden opportunities for regional talent to enter the civil service.

The recruitment system that selects candidates by school recommendation—the Local Talent Recommendation Recruitment System—was also continued. This system appoints high school graduates and graduating students as trainee staff based on school recommendations; after a set period of service, they are appointed as general government officials. Last year, a total of 416 people were selected under this system, including 158 for grade 7 and 258 for grade 9 positions.

In the grade 9 skilled high school career competition recruitment exam run by local governments to hire high school graduates, 248 people were selected, up 24 from the previous year. Regional talent recruitment by public institutions relocated to innovation cities and similar areas reached 1,527, an increase of 233 compared to the previous year. The proportion of regional talent in all recruits at public institutions stood at 40.8%, surpassing the mandatory recruitment ratio of 30%. In addition, the number of new high school graduate hires in public institutions rose by 442 compared to the previous year.

Female Officials in Grade 5 and Above in Local Governments: 38.8%—Up 8 Percentage Points in Two Years

The proportion of women advancing into senior positions also increased. Since 2019, central ministries and local governments have achieved their annual female manager appointment targets under the "Plan to Promote Gender Representation in the Public Sector" for seven consecutive years.

There were 210 female senior officials at the director-general and bureau director general levels in central ministries last year, accounting for 14.3% of the total. This is an increase of 9 people and a rise of 1.4 percentage points from the previous year. Compared to 38 women in 2006, when the senior official system was introduced, this represents an increase of roughly 5.5 times.

The proportion of women at the director level of headquarters in central ministries also rose 1.5 percentage points from the previous year to reach 32.3%. The number of agencies where more than half of the director-level officials at headquarters are women increased from six to eight compared to the previous year—specifically, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Government Legislation, Ministry of Data and Statistics, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, and Statistics Korea.

The increase was even greater in local governments. Women officials at grade 5 and above numbered 10,518, accounting for 38.8% of the total. The proportion rose from 30.8% in 2023 to 34.7% in 2024, and then to 38.8% last year, representing an increase of 8.0 percentage points over two years.

The proportion of female executives at public institutions was 20.5%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from the previous year. The proportion of female managers, including department and team heads, also rose by 1.1 percentage points to 33.4%.

Science and Engineering Senior Officials: 28.3%; Grade 4 and Above: 38.7%

The proportion of executives with science and engineering backgrounds within the civil service also increased. Among central government senior officials, the proportion with science and engineering backgrounds rose from 27.2% in 2024 to 28.3% last year, an increase of 1.1 percentage points. Compared to 24.1% in 2021, this marks a rise of 4.2 percentage points over four years.

For officials at grade 4 and above, the proportion of science and engineering backgrounds increased even more, from 37.0% in 2024 to 38.7% last year, a 1.7 percentage point increase. Among local government officials at grade 5 and above, the proportion with science and engineering backgrounds reached 47.6%, up 1.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. Since 2016, local governments have consistently exceeded the annual science and engineering appointment target of 40%.

Number of Newly Hired Persons with Disabilities Increased, but Disability Employment Rate in Local Governments Declined

The number of newly hired persons with disabilities also increased. The number of new hires through disability recruitment and career recruitment for persons with severe disabilities in central and local governments rose from 982 in 2024 to 1,024 last year, an increase of 42 people (4.3%).

The proportion of persons with severe disabilities and women with disabilities—both considered to face more difficult employment conditions—also grew. Among disabled public officials in central ministries, people with severe disabilities accounted for 20.6% and women with disabilities 20.3%, up 0.6 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points, respectively, from the previous year. The proportion of people with severe disabilities in public institutions rose by 2.1 percentage points to 23.2%.

However, improvements in overall disability employment rates were mixed. The disability employment rate in central ministries was unchanged at 3.53% year-on-year, while in local governments, it actually fell by 0.04 percentage points to 3.64%. In public institutions, the rate rose by 0.12 percentage points year-on-year to 4.17%.

Seonghee Park, Director General of Human Resources Policy at the Ministry of Personnel Management, said, "The inflow of talent from diverse backgrounds and with specialized skills is a driving force for solving complex and rapidly changing social problems and for improving the quality of public services," adding, "We will continue to promote effective policies so that the value of balanced human resources becomes deeply rooted across the public sector."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.