Written by banking expert Noman Al-Bouri:
Do we want a unified salary scale? Excellent. But the order should be:
Workforce structure first → restructuring → redistribution of surplus staff → retirement and voluntary exit → halt random hiring → then the salary scale.
To prevent reform from turning into a social crisis, an economic exit and transition program could be established:
🔹 Service Buyout:
Those who wish to leave public-sector employment would receive a financial payment calculated based on their years of service, according to clear regulations, rather than suddenly losing their source of income.
🔹 Voluntary Exit with Real Incentives:
Not simply “resign and leave.” Instead, a transitional package could include, depending on the circumstances, financial compensation, a pension, and continued health insurance for a specified period.
🔹 Retraining and Redistribution:
An employee needed by another institution should be transferred there rather than dismissed.
🔹 Partnership with the Private Sector:
Private-sector employers that recruit employees leaving the public sector could receive tax incentives and financing guarantees, particularly for projects that create sustainable jobs.
🔹 Financing the Transition to Productive Work:
Provide financing and training for those who want to turn their experience into a private business rather than remain dependent on a government salary.
But there is a point that is often overlooked:
An employee does not cost the state only their salary.
The true cost of headcount includes salary, insurance and benefits, offices, equipment, electricity, administration, training, and other expenses.
As a result, the actual cost of an employee could reach 2.7–3 times their direct salary.
In other words, an employee earning LYD 2,000 could actually cost the state around LYD 5,400–6,000 per month.
This makes the issue of an inflated public-sector workforce far more serious than it appears on the payroll.
Then we arrive at the objective:
A state with only the number of employees it genuinely needs, fair salaries for actual jobs, and a private sector capable of absorbing part of the workforce.
Because the issue is not only:
How much do we pay the employee?
It is also:
How many employees are we paying in the first place, and what do they actually cost us?
Every unnecessary government position means additional public spending.
Excessive spending puts pressure on the budget, increases the deficit, and creates financing pressures, which then manifest themselves in inflation, the exchange rate, and citizens’ purchasing power.
And if we raise salaries to compensate for inflation that was partly contributed to by excessive spending, we will enter an endless cycle:
Higher salaries → higher spending → deficit → inflation → declining purchasing power → demands for another increase.
Therefore, the real question is not:
“How much should we increase salaries?”
But:
“How many jobs does Libya actually need?”
Public-sector workforce reform should come before reforming the salary scale.
Successful reform does not leave employees out on the street…
It moves them from unproductive jobs to productive ones.
