• The existing public sector workforce in Sri Lanka stands at 1.3Mn

By Nishal Fernando  

The public sector can smoothly run with a workforce as low as 200,000 persons through digitalization, against the current public sector workforce of 1.3 million, according to the Head of State-Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit (SOERU) Suresh Shah.  

He noted that even without digitalization, the public sector workforce can be cut by half and the public services can be maintained efficiently. 

Sri Lanka’s bloated public sector shrunk by 135,000 to 1.393 million by the end of 2022 from 1.401 million in 2021 and from 1.528 million in 2020 as the government started to reduce the excess cadre while freezing recruits.  

Shah claimed that if the public service is fully digitalized, the public sector cadre could be brought down to 200,000 people.  

However, Shah was quick to rule out any radical move to reduce employment in the public sector.  

“You can’t put people out in the streets, it will create economic and social chaos,” he said, speaking at a seminar organised Organization of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA) on Wednesday.  

Further, he noted that it would lead to an economic slump with a large number of people losing their incomes.  

Shah asserted that such a move should be done in a phase-out manner, in coordination with the private sector in creating opportunities to absorb this excess labour.