Govt could outsource 60% of jobs in lowest grades
Mbongeni Mguni | Friday February 1, 2019 13:35
The recommendation is contained in a report by Malaysian consultants that is at the centre of the public service salary negotiations which began on Thursday between the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) and six public sector unions.
According to the report, public service employees on average earn 40% less than their peers in the private sector, a situation that worsens at higher grades.
The public service has about 132,000 employees, with around 45,000 in Grades A and B, the lowest earning grades within the civil service. Within Grades A and B, gross salaries range from P16,644 to P70,752, a far cry from the top salary in the civil service of P612,060 per annum. Malaysian consultants contracted by the DPSM to help revamp the public service salaries structure, noted that in 2013, the gap between the public and private sector was as wide as 52%.
While government has long committed to outsourcing “non-core” positions within the civil service, the pace of initiative has been slow over the years, despite pressure from bodies such as the IMF for Botswana to trim its civil service.
Experts have blamed the public, private sector salary gap for the ongoing brain drain from the civil service, particularly among highly qualified and experienced staff.
The trend has led to declining levels of service delivery, particularly in specialised sectors such as geology, the general minerals sector, the Attorney General’s chambers, engineering and the health care sector.
The consultants said right-sizing the public sector was necessary. The consultants recommend that in the first year of the rationalisation, 30% of jobs in grades A and B be outsourced, followed by 20% in the second year and 10% in the third year.
Yesterday, DPSM director, Goitseone Mosalakatane said the consultants’ report was not the final word on the negotiations. “We would like it put on record that the report does not represent government’s position,” she said in a statement.
“The long awaited report was received by government on January 25, 2019 and shared with all public sector unions on January 29, 2019. However, it has not been processed by the relevant structures of the two parties, but can be used to inform the process.”
According to the report, the small adjustments government has made to civil servants’ salaries over the years have failed to narrow the gap.
Besides the right-sizing, the consultants have recommended a wholesale salary adjustment across the board as well as a performance management system that would reward “good” performances with salary increases.
The report suggests a 10% adjustment across the grades, or 20% to Grades A and B, with 15% for C and D, or 20% for Grades A and B, 10% for Grades C and D, or 15% for Grades A and B, 10% for C and D.
The consultants note that even a one percent across the board increase would cost government an extra P9.4 million each year. “The main consideration in driving a wholesale salary adjustment is affordability to government.
“DPSM and the Finance Ministry will provide the finalised and agreed options to close the gap with the market in line with the affordability of the government,” the report reads. The performance management method, the consultants noted, would close the gap by awarding high performance employees with salary increments.
The method is believed to be affordable to government as the majority of the employees would likely fall in the “average performance” category and thus receive lower increments. Non-performers would not be given any increments. Once parity with the private sector is reached, the consultants recommend urgent job evaluation as well as productivity improvements aimed at improving government’s effectiveness and efficiency.