Sri Lanka’s public sector long criticized for inefficiency, political patronage and weak productivity is again under scrutiny as the government plans to add 75,000 more recruits while pledging to “rightsize” the system over the next five years.
Deputy Minister of Industries Chathuranga Abeysinghe, speaking at a Deloitte post-budget forum, acknowledged what successive administrations have avoided admitting.
“We have to accept the reality. The public service is bloated not at the skilled or executive level, but at the bottom tiers where past governments hired supporters,” he said. The new intake, he insisted, is targeted at critical skill-shortage categories: nurses, teachers, engineers, and technical professionals.
Sri Lanka’s public sector including ministries, departments, state-owned enterprises and statutory boards now stands at around 1.35 million employees, with an “approved cadre” of nearly 1.5 million. This makes the state machinery larger than the combined workforces of the country’s top private-sector employers. Productivity, however, has not kept pace.
One of the most heavily criticized categories is the “Development Officer” cadre—graduates recruited en masse during political cycles. As of December 2024, there were 102,681 Development Officers, despite an approved cadre of 77,796.
Many are assigned to district or divisional offices that lack even the basic space or resources to utilise them effectively. Government officials admit that most cannot demonstrate job-related skills, IT literacy, or basic communication competence, raising questions about their economic contribution.
Compounding the problem is the large post-war military structure. Unlike other countries that downsized their armed forces after conflict, Sri Lanka never carried out systematic demobilisation.
Thousands of deserters remain outside the formal workforce, while tens of thousands who joined between 2006 and 2009 will complete their 20-year service soon. Abeysinghe said the government is exploring how to reskill and integrate these personnel into private industry, entrepreneurship, and technical fields.
Although authorities say they will encourage voluntary retirement, officials deny any move toward compulsory downsizing. Instead, the government expects digitalisation and automation within ministries to gradually shrink the workforce organically over the next three to five years.
The public sector burden showed its first slight decline in 2024, but inefficiency remains deeply entrenched. Despite taxpayers funding public education and health, middle-class families are increasingly forced into private alternatives international schools, private tuition, and channelled doctors due to deteriorating service quality. Meanwhile, taxpayer money continues to fund politically hired graduates and loss-making state enterprises.
Analysts also point to the consequences of policy reversals. During the Rajapaksa era several previously privatised entities particularly in the sugar sector were re-nationalised. Those enterprises now require heavy state subsidies for survival, adding yet another drain on public finances.
