In the first seven months of the year, state institutions have employed 448 employees and civil servants less than last year.
The number of employed civil servants in state bodies, according to the Ministry of Administration, was by 448 lower on the last day of July this year (48,121) than on the last day of 2015 (48,569). These data is not complete and the Ministry notes that the figures do not include those employed by Parliament, the Office of the President, government offices, armed forces, ombudsman offices, judicial bodies and certain other institutions, reports Novi List on August 14, 2016.
Various ministries, for instance, have 386 employees less than before and the current number is 42,404. The largest outflow was recorded from the Interior Ministry, where the number of civil servants went from 25,657 to 25,391, which means 266 people less than last year. Second place belongs to the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, both with 23 employees less.
Among a few departments with an increased number of employees are the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs, headed by Minister Oleg Butković, had 26 employees more, which brings it to 714 people, while the Ministry of Regional Development, headed by Tomislav Tolušić, recorded an increase of 25 people, to 235 employees.
The reduction in the number of state employees is a continuation of a trend that has started during the former government of Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, according to the Union of State and Local Government Employees data. During the implementation of the referendum on the Collective Agreement, the Union determined that there were 64,858 employees in state administration in 2004, including the armed forces. According to the Ministry of Public Administration, there were 63,129 such employees in 2012, or 1,729 less than the initial number. In the next four years, as the Ministry’s figures demonstrate, the number of employees was further reduced by 3,362, to just fewer than 60,000.
