A castigating report on productivity among government employees finds that more than 195,000 workers in the public sector, equivalent to over half the sector’s workforce, have poor productivity and constitute a burden on the state’s resources.
The report, compiled from studies by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, several consultation offices and local research, is a serious cause for concern to the authorities and policymakers in the country.
Speaking about the latest findings, economist Jassim Al-Saadoun said that when it comes to workers in the public sector, Kuwait tops the world in the number of government sector workers as a percentage of the total population. He added that increasing the number of workers who do not have any function in the workplace, except a designation and a means to mask their unemployment are a heavy burden on the state’s annual budget.
With the exception of education, medical, nursing and other sectors, where there is a shortage of national employees, most other ministries have too many citizens who are practically idle the whole day. This reflects on the productivity of ministries and are a huge drain on the finances of the state, which spends more than 63 percent of its oil revenues as wages and benefits for state employees.
Analyst say this lack of productivity among public sector workers leads to negative outcomes, including the creation of inequality between productive and non-productive workers, which frustrates those who are doing real jobs and fuels corruption.
