Commission finds civil servants rated ‘excellent’ yet again

Almost every civil servant has again being rated ‘excellent’, with the public service commission lamenting the reviews on Friday as “disappointing”. The commission’s chief George Papageorgiou presenting the body’s annual report detailed that average review scores have risen every year since the current system began, for in 2023 they were 8.7 out of 10 in, 9.01 in 2024 and 9.12 last year. “Gradually, steadily, over time, we are returning to the previous phenomenon where everyone was assessed as excellent in every respect,” Papageorgiou remarked. He said the trend defeats the very purpose of reviews, which should show who actually performs well and who does not. He blamed departmental heads and permanent secretaries, who he said must give more “realistic marks”. The reviews sit alongside a promotion system that has changed dramatically, for some seventy per cent of interdepartmental promotions now go to civil servants who would have been passed over under the old seniority rules. Papageorgiou said candidates can now win posts on ability, regardless of their length of service. Staff with differing degrees of experience scored highly at the assessment centres, with only 12 per cent of posts going to candidates from outside the department concerned. He stressed that the system must be monitored regularly to examine any weaknesses. The assessment centres were used in full for the first time last year and were chosen through a tender. Final scores are split three ways; an aptitude test counts for 10 per cent, a subject exam for 30 per cent and the assessment centre for 60 per cent. Last year, 4,065 candidates sat exams, with the commission handling 142 posts at salary scale A13 (€53,258 – €67,972)and above. Some 335 candidates were sent to the centres for interdepartmental promotions. Filling a post now takes eight months on average, while historically some cases previously took over two or three years. The commission met 237 times in 2025, spending 56 per cent of its time on filling posts and only 2 per cent on disciplinary cases. It made 541 appointments and 707 promotions, and held a record 894 interviews. Up to September 15 this year it had made 313 appointments and 447 promotions, and held 629 interviews. Seventeen civil servants were suspended from duty last year, against 21 so far this year. Papageorgiou commended the commission for having “coped adequately with a heavier workload”. The report also shows who works in the service, with women now accounting for 63 per cent of civil servants and men 37 per cent, outnumber men at every level of the public sector. They hold a majority even among directors and permanent secretaries, posts that were predominantly male dominated until a few years ago. The burgeoning cost of the public sector is also under scrutiny, for the fiscal council announced last month that the government workforce grew from 66,287 in 2022 to 71,675 this year. It said employee compensation reached about €4.1 billion last year, close to 12 per cent of GDP, calling for restrained recruitment based on documented need.