Thailand plans early retirement programme to reduce civil servants
It targets employees aged 50 and over, and workers from 40 years old may qualify for multiple reasons
THAILAND plans to introduce an early retirement programme for civil servants, as it seeks to cut the state workforce by about 5 per cent a year to reduce government spending, Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt said.
The programme, expected to start in fiscal year 2027, will initially target employees aged 50 and over, and workers from 40 years old may qualify on the grounds of poor health or because they need to take care of relatives, he added.
The first phase is estimated to cost the government about seven billion baht (US$208.6 million), said Pakorn. As at June 2023, Thailand had as many as 1.7 million civil servants.
He added that the government is considering compensation of more than 12 times an employee’s monthly salary, but the exact amount is still being discussed with the finance ministry.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s administration has put greater emphasis on fiscal consolidation, with the government’s budget stretched by relatively high spending and set to reach its 70 per cent self-imposed ceiling.
The early retirement package is one of the administration’s ideas to make more funds available for a buffer in case of potential shocks to the Thai economy.
Relevant agencies are finalising the details of the plan before submitting it to the Cabinet for approval, Pakorn said. BLOOMBERG
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