The increase of nearly 2,000 people employed by the government since Labour came to power will set public coffers back some €20 million a year, Times of Malta has calculated.

The bonanza of government jobs during the first year of a new Labour administration also runs contrary to a government plan sent to Brussels last October, in which it pledged to reduce the number of public sector employees by 500 during 2014 as a deficit-reduction measure.

The latest official figures show that public sector employment between March 2013 and last March rose by 1,879 workers: by far the largest increase in the past six years.

Research conducted by this newspaper shows that while the policy during previous years was to restrict the overall number of public sector employees, the situation now appears to have been reversed.

The previous Nationalist government failed to stick to the letter of its employment reduction policy every year, increasing the number of employees by nearly 900 over a period of five years.

However, Labour has increased it by a further 1,879 in just 12 months.

Asked for the cost of these new jobs from the public purse, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said the information “was still being gathered and will be provided at a later date.”

The only explanation provided so far by the Finance Ministry is that among the new employees, 680 were added to the transport sector as a result of the government taking over the public transport service from Arriva.

However, 402 new jobs were added to the public administration, another 400 in the health and social work sector, 300 in education and 107 in other sectors.

This substantial increase is over and above the ‘natural’ recruitment needed to replace the 1,500 government employees who normally retire every year.

The government is committed to restart the practice of restricting recruitment and reducing public sector employment through attrition

According to a document sent to Brussels and published in October, giving details of measures Malta intended to take to address the growing deficit, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna pledged to “reduce public sector employment by around 500 per annum”.

“Potential savings from this policy could amount to around €4.9 million in 2014 and additional savings in subsequent years,” the minister had told the European Commission.

The estimated €20 million increase in the wage bill, for the nearly 2,000 additional jobs in the public sector, is extrapolated from this figure.

Scicluna: plan was to replace staff on 2:3 ratio

In his report, Prof. Scicluna added: “The government is committed to restart the practice of restricting recruitment and reducing public sector employment through attrition.

“In particular, the government is committed to restrict the replacement of retirees and resignations by a ratio of 2:3.”

Asked whether the government is still sticking to these plans, the Finance Ministry’s spokesman confirmed that the government “remains committed to reach its savings and expenditure targets and will do whatever is required to ensure that these are met”.

While the NSO reported that the number of public sector employees in March 2014 stood at 43,386 against 41,507 in March 2013, the Finance Ministry pointed out “the share of public sector employment out of the entire workforce decreased from 26.7 per cent to 26.6 per cent in the past 12 months”.

“This took place at a time when the total labour supply increased by 3.6 per cent”, the ministry said.

Public sector employees