KUALA LUMPUR: Any new civil service hiring policy must not affect the public sector, which is the backbone of the government administration.
Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said while the growing cost of pension payments for civil servants needed to be addressed, it must not come at the expense of the staff and their welfare.
"The issue of increased pension payments for public servants, which has increased the government's fiscal responsibilities, requires a comprehensive solution.
"However, any proposed government resolution must not lead to neglecting the welfare of civil servants or downsizing the civil service, impacting the effective delivery of services to the people nationwide."
In a statement on Facebook yesterday, he said this was because a large chunk of the 1.6 million civil servants were filled in important and critical sectors such as security, health, and education.
The former prime minister said during the Covid-19 crisis in the country, civil servants, especially those serving in the healthcare and security sectors were important frontliners in our efforts to combat the virus.
Muhyiddin said all decisions made in National Security Council meetings which he chaired were able to be implemented swiftly due to the sufficient number of frontline workers nationwide.
"Imagine if we did not have enough doctors, nurses, policemen, army, teachers, enforcement officers, and others, every decision or action made may not have been effectively implemented in the country.
"Civil servants are the backbone of the state capacity which had proven to be important when the nation faced a crisis."
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government was introducing a new civil service hiring policy, which would include a new pension scheme.
Zahid had said under this method, new hires in the civil service would contribute to retirement schemes like the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Perkeso).