The number of public sector employees in Greece was reduced by 267,095 during the period 2009-2013. In 2009, there were 952,625 public employees but in 2013 their number fell to 675,530. According to Greek news, a percentage of them retired, but the vast majority were working on contracts that were not renewed.
Data from the Greek Ministry of Administrative Reform regarding contract staff showed that in 2009 the state employed 148,634 temporary employees, while in December 2013 they were 12,196. This means that at least 136,438 contract employees were laid-off from the Greek public sector after their contracts expired.
The regular staff in the public sector in 2009 was 692,907 people, while in December 2013 it had been reduced by almost 100,000, reaching 599,207 employees. In May 2014 there was a further reduction, as only 590,908 employees were recorded.
Based on official data, the majority of Greek public sector regular staff in May 2014 were employed in the Ministries of Defense, Education, Health, and Public Order, as well as in regional and local administrative units.
The Ministry of Defense employs 87,684 people, the Ministry of Education 177,225 (most of them teachers), the Ministry of Health 82,389 (doctors), the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection 62,519 (police officers). Local and regional administrative units have a total of 83,996 employees, the Ministry of Finance has 5,442 employees, the Ministry of Justice 15,265, the Ministry of Labor 16,779, the Ministry of Mercantile Marine 8.079 and finally decentralized administrations had a total of 6,579 regular staff.
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