Today’s meeting of the Executive Council for Administrative Reform, chaired by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and attended by Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos ended in the Greek Prime Minister's Maximou residence.
The main topic of the meeting was the so-called "mobility programme" for civil servants, which will include 12,500 civil servants by the end of September. They will be receiving 75% of their salary for 8 months while another suitable position for them is found. And in case this doesn’t happen, they will be laid off.
On his way out of the Prime Minister's Maximou residence, Minister of Administrative Reform and E-government Kyriakos Mitsotakis said:
"We confirmed the final decision and it was that our country will meet its schedule strictly and by the end of September, 12,500 civil servants will be included in the mobility programme."
He added that this scheme is not only Greece’s obligation before its international creditors, but also a positive tool that will lead to a better utilisation of its labour resources.
Mitzotakis also noted that all 1,800 public servants covered by the first wave of mobility, were placed in other positions where they were needed.
As it became clear, lists with the names of officers will be announced by September 20.
"We are progressing at a rapid pace," said in turn Evangelos Venizelos after the meeting.
"It is important to have employee appraisal and meritocracy since this is the only way in which people will be convinced that everything is done in the interest of citizens," said PASOK spokesman Odysseas Konstantinopoulos.
He added that the political system is to blame for the delay in the restructuring of the public sector over the past 30 years.
Next is the inclusion of the rest of the servants who will complete the number to 12,500 and will come from all ministries and their subdivisions, based on the evaluation of their structures and recruitment plans.
Performance evaluation and assigning scores of staff will affect not only the total number of civil servants, but those who work in ministries and departments, which have shown unnecessary job positions after the evaluation of their structure. This was explained by the Ministry of Administrative Reform in its information announcement about the schedule and procedures which will be followed in the implementation of the mobility scheme.