Συνέντευξη Υπουργού στους Los Angeles Times
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State statistics show about 1,000 private sector employees losing their jobs, daily, from the start of the crisis. How many have been forced out of the public sector in that same period?
The public sector has been reduced significantly. The government has been applying a 1:5 attrition rule and at the same time it has reduced temporary contracts and has not renewed fixed term contracts. We are on track to achieve a reduction in the number of civil servants by 150,000 by 2015.
You’re being asked to deliver on something which three previous governments did not do, even on a smaller scale, in the past three years. Can it be realistically be done?
I was appointed to this position in order to implement long-overdue reforms in Greek public administration and I want to assure you that I have embraced this task with determination and resolve. I am committed in bringing forward systemic and structural administrative reform. Regarding the terms and conditions attached to our agreements with our lenders, it is true that we missed the end-June target for transferring the required 12,500 employees to the mobility scheme. In order to get back on schedule regarding public sector mobility, we will place 4,250 ordinary employees in the mobility scheme by end-July and 8,250 by end-September. Another 12,500 will be placed by end-December 2013.
Whether re-hired, or not, within nine months, as the bill says, 25,000 jobs will be terminated by the end of the year, correct?
This is not true. Public sector employees placed in the mobility scheme will have their wages reduced by 25% and will go through an assessment process, within an evaluation framework to be established by end-September, before being re-allocated to new posts. Only a fraction of employees placed in the mobility scheme will be destined to exit the public sector.
How does that make the public sector more efficient? Are these under-performing, political hires?
Throughout the past decade, I have spoken openly and clearly about the need for administrative reform in the public sector, not only as a means for a more efficient and modern public administration, but also as a key step to promoting a more open, free and competitive private sector economy. This message is even more relevant today, as Greece is paving its way out of recession and towards creating economic growth and new job opportunities. Setting up a transparent and merit-based appraisal framework should help improve individual performance and increase accountability and efficiency in the civil service. We are also working intensively on a human resources strategy that will deal with a number of key issues in public administration, for example the recruitment of senior managers, staffing plans, mobility schemes, training of civil servants, disciplinary procedures, etc. It is important to assess the roles, mandate the responsibilities of senior managers and political appointees in order to clarify their respective roles.
With unemployment at 27%, how wise is it on behalf of lenders to be demanding this from Greece now, and you, likewise, to be accepting it?
First of all, this is not a new demand; it is one of the measures included in the memorandum of understanding signed between the Greek government and the “troika” on February 2012. Secondly, for every one of the 15,000 who exit the public sector, another one will be hired, adding new talent and skills to the Greek civil service. Thirdly, dismissals due to disciplinary offenses will be one of the main pools for the direct exit from the civil service and this is something long overdue. Those public sector employees facing disciplinary review, or who entered presenting fake credentials, or who have abused legal loopholes to make temporary positions into almost permanent, have to go and I believe that the Greek society will embrace this move.
How much will this cost the state and how much does it stand to save?
As I mentioned earlier, it is not a matter of achieving savings, but creating a public administration that is effective and serves the needs of the Greek people.
Municipal workers and teachers are being targeted, first. Who’s next, and is there a no-go area?
The mobility pool will primarily be used as a tool for re-allocating employees within the public sector. The procedure for examining all pending disciplinary cases has been accelerated, both in the disciplinary councils and in the Council of State. At the same time, a permanent control mechanism of the disciplinary procedures by the “Inspectors-Controllers Body for Public Administration” is already in place and functions effectively, while a secondary disciplinary council for municipal employees has been formed and staffed. The mobility scheme will proceed quickly and the various ministries in Greece will have to do their part to make sure that civil servants are transferred from positions where they are not needed to positions within which they can be truly productive and serve the needs of society, as well as fully address the functional requirements of the state.
Just last month the government nearly collapsed when it shut down the state broadcaster and sacked 2700 workers. Do you think the government can survive another, possibly even bigger backlash?
There is a silent majority in Greece that understands that we can no longer sweep the mistakes of the past under the rug. For a long time, there was a sense in this country that bad habits would with the benefit of time just disappear. Today, most everybody understands that very difficult decisions must be made and that vital reforms can no longer be put on the back burner.
Have you ever been fired?
I have found myself between jobs and I know what an awkward period it is. Let me point out that the one thing that is far worse than being fired is not being able to find a job. Over one million Greeks today are unemployed as a result of the financial crisis. This is absolutely unacceptable! I have taken on the task to reform public administration because this is a vitally necessary condition for a private sector economy that is robust, that creates jobs, that is open, free and competitive. In order move out recession and back into growth, in order to create new jobs, we must correct the mistakes of the past, including putting an end to a bloated public sector under the shadow of political favoritism. I am absolutely committed to this goal because there is simply no other alternative.
