Plucking out the eye
A single comment by the prime minister was enough to touch off a debate about permanent employment status for civil servants. Costas Karamanlis fell short of proposing to abolish such positions, but he clearly wants to make open-ended contracts the rule rather than the exception. The premier, echoing those who favor terminating jobs-for-life status, says the move will improve the performance of civil servants. It’s «pluck out the eye that offends thee» all over again. Undoubtedly, the state apparatus is unproductive and its services are substandard. But this is not due to lifetime tenure. If reform campaigns have failed, blame instead patron-client relations in the state sector. Besides, a civil servant can always be dismissed if he is found guilty of corruption or refuses to work. The problem is that the law is rarely implemented. Another problem is the absence of a credible assessment system that would also be used as a yardstick for promotions. Some fear the proposal will open the gates to politically motivated sackings. But the concerns are exaggerated. Experience shows that workers with open-ended contracts have no more reason to fear losing their jobs than permanent civil servants – even when they ought to be fired. In truth, the proposal to abolish jobs for life is the product of a neo-liberal school of thought. But the public administration is in urgent need of carefully studied and drastic changes – not shadowboxing and fireworks. The public sector is by nature qualitatively different from a private company in terms of administration and human resources management. The introduction of a two-speed civil service is a cheap trick that will cause more problems than it will solve. Lifelong tenure was established not just to curb political persecution but also to serve as a symbol of the state’s stability and continuity.
