Promotion of Township Civil Servants
According to the article, township civil servants have only a 3.5% chance of promotion. Most people basically enter at one rank and retire (or leave for the private sector) at that same rank. Higher positions are inherently scarce — one person per vacancy — so they're essentially iron rice bowls you can endure until retirement. When vacancies do arise, they're typically filled by officials sent down from city-level or higher agencies for training and resume-building, not by genuine grassroots promotions.
On top of that, the real value of civil service compensation lies in benefits beyond base salary. In grassroots positions, these perks can amount to around ¥40,000 annually. But when local government finances are tight, benefits get cut first, leaving only the base salary. (Benefits typically amount to roughly double the base pay.)
This is why civil service roles suit people who don't really need the money in the first place.