A heated debate is underway regarding a bill submitted to Parliament by the Ministry of Finance, aimed at implementing more flexible procedures for filling entry-level vacancies in the public and broader public sector.

The bill—expected to gain majority approval except from DISY—was reviewed in the Parliamentary Finance Committee on Monday and is scheduled to be brought before the Plenary on April 6. According to information obtained by Brief, some MPs are preparing amendments requiring an evaluation of the needs of affected services before any unfreezing of positions is approved.

DISY has expressed opposition to the core philosophy of the bill, arguing against the automatic or complete unfreezing of all vacancies resulting from retirements. The party maintains that staffing should be based on current needs, especially as the state aspires to become a digital government, requiring substantial investment.

Other MPs have argued that the number of public service employees—currently close to 40,000—should gradually be reduced. They point out that the increasing cost of the government wage bill could strain public finances. According to the MoF, entry-level vacancies currently include:

• 10,000 in the public service

• 636 in the National Guard

• 5,247 in the Police

• 748 in the Fire Service

• 10,000 in Education

As Brief and FastForward reported earlier, during the post-memorandum evaluation of Cyprus’s economy and public finances, the Troika raised red flags about several risks to state finances. Among the five identified risks, the most significant was inflexible expenditure, especially the public wage bill.

In a note sent to Parliament, Director General of the MoF, Andreas Zachariadis, pointed out that Cyprus ranks at the top among EU member states in terms of the public wage bill as a percentage of total government spending. Currently, public sector wages—excluding pensions and gratuities—make up approximately 26.7% of total state expenditure.

"The unfreezing of positions concerns approved posts. Staffing, however, is a matter of budget," stated Andreas Elias, Secretary General of OHO-SEK, in comments to Brief. He added, "If the legislative authority wants to reduce the number of public employees, it has the power to do so by controlling the budget."

Elias explained that for the past ten years, Parliament has been approving the bills related to the unfreezing of posts and emphasized that concerns about the rising wage bill are shared by unions as well. “We too consider how the state payroll should be controlled,” he noted.

He added that EU obligations and institutional requirements have led to the creation of five deputy ministries—each employing a minimum of 50 people—while other independent institutions have also been established and need adequate staffing.

“They must decide what kind of public service model they want,” Elias remarked.

He cited Cyta as an example, explaining that its institutional innovation, achieved through agreement between management and staff, is designed to reduce the workforce over time. Regarding the bill itself, Elias described it as an important step toward preventing operational disruption in the public and semi-public sector, noting that these are approved and necessary permanent positions that must be filled.

It is worth noting that Michalis Persianis, President of the Fiscal Council, told the Finance Committee that for the past 13 months, the Council’s attempt to hire an economist has been stalled due to bureaucratic delays.