MPs on Monday wrapped up discussion of a government bill that would end the hiring freeze on vacancies for full-time jobs in the broader public sector – a policy instituted in 2013 to rein in spending in the wake of the financial crisis.

Since 2013, whenever the government had wanted to hire people for permanent positions left vacant, it had to come to parliament and ask for the ‘unfreezing’ on a case-by-case basis.

Critics of this policy cite two main problems: delays in filling up positions in the public sector, and at the same time a steep rise in the hiring of temps to get around the restrictions.

According to the finance ministry, doing away with the hiring freeze would impact 977 positions for this year.

Michalis Persianis, head of the Fiscal Council, said the current law – freezing hires – had reined in the public payroll for just about three years.

From then on, it became evident that the various “loopholes” undermined the policy.

Persianis cautioned that government departments tend to claim they are understaffed “no matter how many people they hire”.

He also highlighted the issue of low productivity in the public sector. He cited a 3:5 ratio – where it takes three days to get any given task done in the private sector, compared to five days in the public sector.

If the hiring freeze is to be ended, safeguards should be put in place – such as the heads of government departments submitting detailed memos justifying the request to hire more people.

Demetris Georgiades, head of the Economy and Competitiveness Council, warned that a sudden unfreezing of a large number of positions might cause government spending to spike – possibly necessitating a hike on taxes to pay for it.

In addition, it might draw resources – meaning people – away from the private sector.

As expected, trade unions representing civil servants were all for ending the hiring freeze.

Elena Azina, head of the Public Administration and Personnel Department at the finance ministry, said the main thrust of the government bill is to simplify hiring processes.

She stated that since 2014, each year anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 positions were being filled up anyway via the process of coming to parliament.

The official referenced a report by the International Monetary Fund – which the government has apparently not yet released – showing that the number of public sector employees in Cyprus “is not high” compared to the average in other countries.

However, the same report also found that salaries in the public sector are about 27 per cent higher than in the private sector in Cyprus. The exception is manager-level positions in the public sector, where wages are lower than corresponding jobs in the private sector.

Responding to an MP’s question, Azina said the public payroll accounts for 28 to 31 per cent of the state budget.

Opposition party Disy meanwhile reiterated they would vote against the bill when it goes to the House plenum.

Warning about the public payroll spiralling out of control, Disy’s Onoufrios Koulla said: “We must not return to the past, nor resort to painful measures such as taxes and cutbacks.”