NEWS

Second wave of labor reserve scheme looms

A second wave of around 19,000 civil servants are to be pushed into early retirement or a labor reserve scheme on heavily-docked wages from January 1, Kathimerini has learned.

The public servants in question are all on open-ended contracts and employed in ministries, state-backed bodies and other parts of the broader civil service.

Of the 19,000, around 12,000 are close to retirement ? having completed 33 years of service ? and another 7,000 are employed in state bodies which are slated for closure or merging with other organizations.

Last week, authorities began transfering some 14,000 civil servants, who are either close to or at retirement age, into the labor reserve.

The scheme is part of a broader cost-cutting drive imposed on Greece by its foreign creditors. It foresees civil servants taking home 60 percent of their regular wages for 12 months before their status is reassessed. Unionists have condemned it as a backdoor to layoffs.

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