No bonus this year

With Spring Festival just around the corner, employees across the country are hotly anticipating bonus payments. Xu Hao, 27, a civil servant in a government department of Quzhou, Zhejiang province, however, has low expectations.

He received more than 20,000 ($3304.6) yuan as an annual bonus before the lunar new year in 2013. But this year, even though he worked much harder and under great pressure, "I do not think I will get more than half of last year's bonus."

Xu and his colleagues have seen a rough year when it comes to added benefits like shopping cards, free fruit, movie tickets and overseas trips, which used to occasionally be handed out in past years. This year however, they have been slashed thanks to the ongoing anti-extravagance campaign.

A detailed regulation, adopted by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in December 2012, issued explicit requirements on how the Party members should improve their working styles in eight aspects to get rid of red tape, extravagancy and corruption, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

A total of 30,420 people who had violated the regulation were punished in 2013, according to a figure released by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on January 8.

While corrupt officials have been grabbing most of the headlines, lower rank civil servants have faced many of the same requirements, albeit without many of the added perks.

"Some civil servants have not gotten used to the frugal working style with reduced benefits, but they should realize that this will be the new normal," said Hu Xingdou, a political science professor with the Beijing Institute of Technology.

"More people should realize that being a civil servant doesn't mean you can get additional benefits. It's just a job, not 'a golden bowl,'" he said.

Year of slashed benefits

Over the course of the year, the bans came swiftly and mercilessly.

Giving mooncakes or cards was banned during the Mid-Autumn Festival or new year's festivities.

The CPC Central Committee General Office and the State Council said that governments and Party departments should stop building offices for officials, and halt any that were under construction.

Strict standards were placed on receptions and officials were banned from using government cars for "general use." Only cars used for law enforcement, confidential communications, emergency services and other specific uses were permitted.

"Various bans have affected almost every aspect of our lives … working for 10 years in government, I have never seen more restrictions than those in 2013," a civil servant working in the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce, told the Global Times on condition of anonymity.

"The days when we didn't have to go to the supermarket to buy rice and oil with our own money have gone," she said.

Another civil servant, who works at the Party committee under the Ministry of Finance, said that last year by this time, the new year's gifts for employees had piled up at the reception desk, but this year everyone was bought a toy horse and that was all.

A survey conducted by the Beijing News which polled 100 civil servants from different positions and levels in five regions in China showed that 93 percent of civil servants said their job had become harder while only 7 percent said there had been no change.

Over 90 percent of those surveyed said they had no extra bonus and received less income after additional benefits were cut, and nearly 80 percent said they used to receive gifts but did not receive any in 2013.

Going overboard?

However, Xu said some benefits should not be removed.

"I support cutting luxury banquets and endless toasts between officials, but every company has celebration parties at the end of the year and it's a good chance to encourage the employees. We don't have to cut everything," he said, adding that sometimes things can go overboard.

"One employee was nearly fired for posting a karaoke photo onto Sina Weibo. The colleague was accused of creating a luxury image of his department."

Meanwhile, with fewer "free trips" and time-consuming meetings, Xu said he had more time to think about his work.

"I know it is right to cut something, but some of the benefits are the main attraction of my work. When I face the complicated and dull paperwork, I feel it's boring and not as well paid as in most companies," he said.

His salary stands at 5,000 yuan every month after three years' work, while many of his college students working in companies earn more than 9,000 yuan.

"This year's change let me see the job with a new perspective, and I found I don't like it as much as I thought," he said. "I may want to leave and do things I like."

Some people have already made this choice.

Sun Lei, who has a PhD degree in industrial economics, used to be the deputy head of the Nansha district of Guangzhou, Guangdong province. He left the government in September 2013 and now works at a private enterprise in Zhejiang province. Chen Yong, who used to work at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, left the government for a business position, the China Times reported.

Although many people have been talking about a "winter for civil servants," this year saw record numbers of examinees taking the annual exam of civil servants. Around 1.12 million took the test but only 19,000 will be hired by the central government, according to the State Administration of Civil Service.

Wang Yukai, a professor with Chinese Academy of Governance, predicted that without the added benefits, civil servant jobs may become less attractive.

Public wrath

The People's Daily, the Party's flagship newspaper, published a commentary saying that it would be unfair for civil servants, who have studied so hard for many years, if their pension funds fell to the same level as blue collar workers, so additional insurance is necessary.

The article soon stirred up a debate online, with many strongly condemning it and saying civil servants do not deserve additional perks.

Luo Kaili, a civil servant in the security department of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, who earns 2,900 yuan a month, told the Global Times that she did not understand why the public are so unkind to civil servants.

"Our work is not easy and we work hard, not to mention the fact that salaries are much lower," she said.

"If the government is clean and there is little corruption, then it might be OK to give its workers more benefits, but now we have seen so much corruption, we know it has wasted so much taxpayers' money and the public won't accept any more extra benefits," said Hu. And there is no other way for government to save its image and credibility, he added.