



Getting ready to transfer or fire up to 40,000 public workers over the next two years on the orders of international lenders, Greece is finally going after those who’ve been disciplinary problems or been wrongdoers at work.

Some 104 civil servants were fired in June, four more in one month than the previous 11 months as the government picks up the pace of weeding out workers who have forged credentials, don’t come to work, or committed felonies.

That comes as the government faces pressure from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) to fire 4,000 civil servants this year and 15,000 in total by the end of 2014.

New Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he wants hearings granted problem workers to be wrapped up in two to four months instead of years as it takes in some cases.

The government wants to remove from the public payroll any civil servants found guilty of committing offenses. At the end of June, 1,920 cases, including appeals, were being examined by disciplinary panels.

There has also been an attempt to bolster oversight, with public sector employees being transferred from other departments to staff the civil service inspection team, which now has 135 employees in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Mitsotakis said that inspectors are going to search for civil servants that fail to turn up for work or who have used forged degrees to get their jobs. “Those who possess genuine skills have nothing to fear,” Mitsotakis told ANT1 TV.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde also made reference to staffing issues in Greece’s public administration in a statement following the Washington-based organization’s decision to disburse another loan of 1.7 billion euros ($2.24 billion) after completing the fourth review of the country’s economic program.

“Deeper public sector reforms are critical to complete the necessary fiscal adjustment going forward with broad public support,” she said. “Given the slow progress in public administration reforms, efforts should focus on ensuring the exit of unqualified personnel to create room to hire new staff with the relevant skills.”



