In China, underperforming civil servants are being awarded ‘snail awards’ as a public humiliation, a practice gaining popularity as the government ramps up its efforts to tackle poor performance in the context of a recession.
The job of a Chinese government worker is already demanding, with wage reductions, added pressure, and low morale. A commentary on a party-affiliated website came to the defense of the ‘snail award,’ calling it ‘sarcastic encouragement’ meant to ‘make the awardees blush and sweat’ while also prompting them to ‘refresh their minds’. It went on to underscore that these workers undermine the Xi Jinping administration’s plans by performing the minimum required.
This clampdown on inefficiency is partly prompted by the economic woes of the nation. In light of new projects to revitalize the economy and draw investments, the administration is demanding utmost output from its employees. The official newspaper of the Communist Party, People’s Daily, reported that three cities have already started issuing the ‘snail awards’ as a light penalty, and other regions have taken it a step further, establishing databases to monitor officials accused of ‘lying flat’ (a euphemism for shirking). In some instances, officials have been transferred or fired.
The anti-graft agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, justified these actions, claiming that “taking stern measures to crack down on ‘lying flat cadres’ is actually in order to safeguard the enthusiasm and initiative of those who are actually making things happen and being entrepreneurial.”
In 2024, the Commission punished 138,000 officials for sloth, inefficiency, and sham labor, up markedly from last year, and the most frequent ground for punishment.
