Government Plans Recruitment Freeze In 2025
The government plans to freeze recruitment next year as it faces challenges in adequately remunerating its current workforce.
In his presentation of the ZiG276.4 billion 2025 national budget at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden on Thursday, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced that the salary allocation for 2025 would account for 56.4% of total revenue, surpassing the government’s policy limit of keeping salaries under 50% of revenue.
Ncube said that recruitment will be restricted to critical sectors, including health and education. Said Ncube:
The current remuneration framework agreed with Government workers, provides for a self-adjusting mechanism of the US$ pegged local currency component of the salary, that takes into account movements in the exchange rate.
In this regard, outlays on employment costs since April 2024 have cushioned civil servants from movements in the exchange rate
Government recently awarded a US$40 increase to the civil service, payable in local currency at the prevailing exchange rate, effective from 1 September 2024.
The 2025 allocation for employment costs of ZiG152.6 billion or 56.4% of revenue, is based on this principle and hence already factors in the exchange rate self-adjustment in workers’ salaries.
Invariably, this allocation is now above the fiscal rule threshold of containing employment costs at maximum of 50% of revenue.
To address this unsustainable position, revenue enhancement measures will be implemented, whilst also limiting the recruitment of additional personnel only to critical sectors such as health and education.
Ncube stated that the Public Service Commission (PSC) will conduct a review of staffing levels within the public service, focusing on upskilling and reskilling employees where possible.
A new compensation framework will be implemented, ensuring it aligns with the principle of equal pay for equal work. He said:
The rationalisation exercise will also benefit from the recent Job Evaluation Exercise, which was undertaken by the Public Service Commission, with the aim to have a fit for purpose and professional civil service, with the capacity to deliver quality public services.
The exercise identified several issues, including functional duplications and role overlaps within Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the existence of more managerial jobs, than non-managerial jobs and the prevalence of dead-end jobs for specialists.
Going forward, Government will implement the recommendations of the Job Evaluation Report, by reviewing the manning levels in the public service, up-skill and re-skill members where feasible, as well as adopt a new compensation framework which conforms with the principles of equal pay for equal work.
In the interim, an immediate moratorium on implementation of some of the already approved structures will be necessary, pending finalisation of this exercise.
Furthermore, a tripartite dialogue exercise on the structure and reporting framework for devolved units across all MDAs is also essential, to curtail the unsustainable growth in wage-related costs.
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