Publication: Managing the Public Sector Wage Bill during COVID-19
Date
2020-06
ISSN
Published
2020-06
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) crisis
is unique and requires tough policy choices for managing the
public sector wage bill to best achieve the difficult
balance between fiscal consolidation, protection of lives
and livelihoods, service delivery, and job restoration. In
the emergency phase, the priority should be on protecting
lives and livelihoods. Short-term measures will likely
increase the wage bill. As a result, in the recovery and
resilience phase, priority must be given to fiscal
consolidation, the reduction of labor market distortions
that may hurt private sector job creation, and an increase
in the productivity of the public sector so that more
outputs are produced per worker. To these ends, the note
provides suggestions that countries can adapt based on their
circumstances and given that they entered this crisis from
different starting points: emergency phase: protect public
sector employment and wages, increase staffing for essential
functions, and provide adequate compensation for essential
workers; and recovery and resilience phase: monitor the
public sector wage premium, curtail high pay and remove
distortionary allowances, build staffing flexibility and
agility, emphasize compensation and management reforms to
improve productivity, and leverage technology and data for decision-making.
Citation
“World Bank. 2020. Managing the Public Sector Wage Bill during COVID-19; Managing the Public Sector Wage Bill during COVID-19. Governance COVID-19 Response;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34324 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”