About 768,000 state workers registered in a new data base to help the government tighten its grasp on civil service pay. The number is equivalent to 17.5 per cent of the working population of 4.4 million people, according to first-quarter figures by the national statistics agency.
The count was part of a 110-billion euro (RM440 billion) international bailout to save Greece from bankruptcy. Ministers had said the government lacked precise figures on how many people worked for in the state sector.
“This (data base) will help us create a single payments authority for the entire civil service,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told a news conference.
Some state employees had opposed the census, fearing the data could be used to cut their pay or lower their status. Others refused to provide data on religious grounds. Interior Ministry officials said some disgruntled civil servants may have being behind hacker attacks on the system.
The government had threatened to stop paying civil servants who failed to register.
The proportion of state employees in other European countries varies. In Britain and France the figure is about 21 per cent while in Germany the level is about 11 per cent.
The Greek count included employees in central and local government as well as other professions on the state payroll, such as judges, state hospital doctors, military personnel and priests. It did not include staff working for state-run companies. — Reuters
