Since the start of the year, hundreds of Syrian civil servants have
reportedly resigned from their jobs, angered over meager pay that is barely
enough to cover the cost of their commute.
اضافة اعلان
Fearing that the trend could spread, the Syrian
regime is using a carrot and stick approach to ensure that public institutions
continue to function. In addition to promised salary increases and one-off
bonuses, the government is enforcing multiple measures to make the resignation
process difficult, and costly.
For now, these tactics appear to have staunched the
flow of resignations. But until salaries are brought in line with Syria’s
surging cost of living, the success is unlikely to last.
Government jobs in Syria were once highly sought
after. They provided people with job security (being fired was almost unheard
of), and promotions and salary increases were guaranteed. Most civil servants —
such as teachers, doctors, and members of the armed forces — were rarely
stressed, working only a few hours a day and having ample public holidays.
The main downside was the pay, equivalent to about
$400 per month for most positions. Yet even this was enough to make ends meet.
None of these benefits exist now. The average
monthly wage of a civil servant today is less than 100,000 Syrian pounds, or
about $23. Put another way, civil servants’ salaries have lost nearly 80
percent of their value since the civil war began in 2011.
Economic and political forces are exacerbating these
trends. The devaluation of the Syrian pound, unprecedented levels of inflation,
lack of essential commodities, and the global implications of the war in
Ukraine have significantly increased the cost of living in Syria and created an
unprecedented gap between income and expenditure.
The average cost of living for a Syrian family of
five exceeded 2.8 million Syrian pounds in March, more than 28-times the
average government salary. Hence, it is not surprising that many civil servants
are trying to find something better, either at home or abroad.
The Syrian regime does not release reliable figures,
so it is difficult to know how many of Syria’s roughly 700,000 public sector
workers have left their jobs. But media reports suggest that hundreds, if not
thousands, of government employees in various governorates, including Sweida
and Latakia, have quit since the beginning of the year.
The number of workers whose resignation requests are
still pending, or have already been rejected, is believed to be even higher.
Over the last decade, tens of thousands of Syrian
civil servants abandoned their posts. According to an April 2021 report by the
Danish Immigration Service, an estimated 138,000 cases involving workers
leaving a public position without notice were filed with courts between 2011
and 2017. Of the 50,000 verdicts, 38,000 cases were decided in favor of the
state and 12,000 in favor of the employee.
Punishments ranged from fines to being charged with
terrorism; the Syrian government considers defection from a public sector
position to be a political action or an anti-government activity, the report
said.
Punitive measures are not the regime’s only course
of action. Prime Minister Hussein Arnous, who has conceded that salaries are
significantly lower than living costs, raised public sector pay by 30 percent
in December 2021. Since then, government officials have promised an additional
25 percent increase, though that raise has yet to be delivered.
But the deteriorating economic situation in Syria means that without stronger intervention, the gap between income and living expenses will continue to widen.
The regime has also been providing one-off bonuses.
Government employees received an additional 75,000 pounds in April, and another
100,000 pounds in August. The government has even increased the tax-free
allowance, to 92,000 pounds from 50,000 pounds, meaning that most civil
servants pay little to no income tax.
But these
measures were too little, too late for many, and the resignations continued. In
response, the regime issued a directive last month that ministries must be
stricter when reviewing resignation requests, and an application can only be
approved if the employee is no longer needed by his department. Even then,
decisions to grant separation must be approved by the national intelligence
agency.
Given these added layers of bureaucracy, many
employees’ resignation requests are being automatically rejected. Those that
are not, are subject to interrogation by security forces, a clear intimidation
tactic designed to keep people in their jobs.
Only a handful of Syrians have successfully turned
in their government-issued IDs in recent months. Many civil servants,
especially those who have decided to remain in Syria, are likely hanging on out
of fear.
But the deteriorating economic situation in Syria
means that without stronger intervention, the gap between income and living
expenses will continue to widen. The regime’s current policy of providing small
salary increases and one-off bonuses is failing to improve morale, and public
sector workers are unlikely to be satisfied until they are paid a livable wage.
Otherwise, there will come a time when civil
servants have no choice but pursue work that covers more than the commute to
the office.
Haid Haid is a Syrian columnist and a consulting
associate fellow of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program.
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