TOKYO >> A record 177 career-track national civil-­service employees with less than 10 years of service left their jobs in fiscal 2022, the National Personnel Authority announced.

Among the reasons workers left for the private sector is the long working hours. The NPA plans to secure more hires by promoting workplace reforms and other measures.

The number of career-track bureaucrats who quit within a decade of service was between 60 and 99 from fiscal 2013 to 2017. That number rose to 116 in fiscal 2018, exceeding the 100 mark for the first time, according to the NPA.

Although the number of resignations declined in fiscal 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it rose to 168 in fiscal 2021, making fiscal 2022 the second consecutive year that departures hit a record high.

According to a survey conducted in fiscal 2022 by the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs, many national civil-­service employees who said they wanted to leave their positions cited insufficient pay, long work hours and the desire for work that allows personal development.