19,600 vacancies in
public administration

Only 20 percent of skilled employees remain in critical positions

Vacancies in public administrations have reached 19,600 or 73 percent of the total number of jobs, according to Nisrine Machmouchi, Chairperson of the Civil Service Board.

There are currently only 7,400 employed public servants out of 27,000 jobs and it is impossible to continue without hiring new employees, she said.

Job vacancies among second-grade employees is 80 percent and this is very dangerous because these skilled and experienced people are in leadership positions as they prepare studies for decisions made by director generals and ministers, Machmouchi said. Civil servants, excluding military personnel, are classified into five grades. Grade-two civil servants are those just below the position of the director general.

According to Machmouchi, employees who will go into retirement, not counting teachers in public education, will total 453 in 2024 and 450 in 2025. She said actual vacancies will exceed these numbers as additional employees will be leaving for other reasons such as marriage or looking for other jobs.

By 2030 the public administration will lose 2,850 employees due to retirement only. Those who will remain employed will total just 4,000, Machmouchi said.

The exodus from the public sector was the result of the plunge in public salaries after the collapse of the lira. Despite all adjustments, public sector salary has not yet reached $400-$500, according to Hassan Wehbeh, who represents the employees of the Ministry of Finance in the Public Administration Employees’ Association.