In the three weeks following this year's Spring Festival holiday, more than 10,000 civil servants quit their jobs, according to recruitment website Zhaopin.com.

Their most popular destinations were real estate, finance and the Internet, it said.

These industries pay well and their development is closely tied with government policies, the website said, which is why they need people who understand government and can deal with bureaucracy.

A government job was once the dream of most Chinese young people who saw it as offering a stable career with a good pension plan, high social status, decent pay, and upward mobility.

But over the past 10 years civil servants' pay hadn't increased, the website said.

China's frugality campaign and the need to cut red tape had also cut benefits and lowered prestige, it said.

The website's Huang Ruoshan told Southern Metropolis Daily that some civil servants felt their abilities and potential were constrained in a state-controlled workplace."

"Private companies ask their employees to give full play to their abilities and they can see relatively clearer career prospect and promotion possibilities," Huang said.

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