ZAGREB, 2 July 2022 - The security of a job in state administration is no longer attractive, Jutarnji List daily said on Saturday, adding that ministries cannot find employees even for jobs with a starting monthly wage of HRK 8,000.
On 25 May, the Justice and Administration Ministry advertised 22 vacancies where the starting wage would be HRK 8,000 and has received no applications, receiving only one for a position where the starting wage would be HRK 9,000 net.
The problems faced by private employers, who cannot find domestic workers for shortage occupations and are increasingly importing foreign labour, is increasingly spilling over to state administration.
Job security used to be attractive, notably during crises, when the private sector was forced to lay off workers, but today, when there is a shortage of workers everywhere, no one wants to work for the state, where the average pay is relatively small and advancement is not based on merit but political affiliation, with jobs even being made up for the selected so they can advance.
The starting monthly wage of administrative staff with high school education is HRK 5,000, while expert associates earn HRK 6,000. The pay system is not equal, so the pay differs for the same job in different services, depending on whether it is in state administration, an agency or public service.
Croatia has a huge number of employees in the public sector and state administration, but the number of those in state administration keeps falling.
In three months alone this year, the ministries have lost 165 people. At the end of March, they had 16,435 employees, 324 fewer year on year, and it is estimated that in the coming period a large number of administrative staff will retire, Jutarnji List concluded.
(€1 = HRK 7.5)
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