Romanian PM Chancellery To Cut 40-50% Of Jobs

Chancellery employees need to fill in an activity report justifying their work and presence within the institution, the head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, Catalin Baba, told MEDIAFAX Sunday. He said he doesn’t plan to fire anyone, because most will “leave on their own once they are required to actually work ".

 

Government sources told MEDIAFAX last week that about 40-50% of jobs within the Chancellery would be canned and the institution would only keep about 150 employees. The sources said all department heads within the Chancellery and the Government Secretariat General were required to see if they have any extra staff and employees were required to submit activity reports.

 

"It’s true, I’ve asked for activity reports and the job cuts will be made based on employee performance evaluations. There are employees whose activity report for the entire last year is just half a page long. Of course, it’s not quantity that matters, but what they have been doing doesn’t justify their presence here. We don’t have a fixed number of people we plan to fire. (…) we’re lowering the budget and looking to keep the best people,” Baba said.

 

He added he found “good employees” at the government and said his goal is not to remove liberals from the institution.

 

"I don’t care what party the employees are from, first of all I want to see them coming to work. There are closed doors within the government palace. Even if the organizational chart indicates there should be managers, advisers, the doors are closed and nobody shows up. Let’s not waste taxpayer money. Be they members of a political party, be they liberals, it’s their problem. (…) I want to see what they do for that money they earn," Baba said. 

 

He added that people whose activity reports will be deemed unsatisfactory will leave ion their own.

 

"I’m not firing them, they’ll leave, if they can’t handle the workload, they file reports. If they don’t fulfill their tasks, they’ll be sanctioned. I’m not firing anyone, I’m making them work. There are people here who haven’t worked a day in their lives,” Baba said.

 

He also said he started cutting other costs, such as employees’ mobile phone bills and fuel consumption for government cars.

 

"I didn’t take away their mobile phones, but I lowered the number of minutes that can use on taxpayer money. They’ll say I’m a jerk. Ok, I can take it," Baba concluded.