The Albanian government employs 12,000 people in the public sector

Edi Rama voting on April 25, 2021

 The number of employees in government institutions or state-owned enterprises reached 185,000, the highest level since 2002, in what appears to be simply jobs in exchange for votes.

The number of employees in the public sector reached 185 thousand people at the end of June, with a dramatic increase of 12 thousand people or 7% compared to June 2020, according to official statistics published by the State Institute of Statistics (known as INSTAT). A year ago, the number of employees in the state sector was 173 thousand, while in 2013, when the current prime minister took power, there were 164 thousand people, while the number of employees did not increase until 2017. In fact, INSTAT statistics show that the increase in the number of state employees started in 2018 while the largest increase took place during the fourth quarter of last year, while the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama was preparing for elections.

At the end of September, the public sector numbered 172 thousand employees while at the end of December, 182 thousand people.

The government has not provided explanations as to why so many people are newly hired. Currently 26% or one in four employed Albanians belong to the public sector, which includes central government, local government and state-owned enterprises, such as OSHEE or water utilities.

Albania has had a tendency to reduce public sector employment since the fall of communism, partly because the state was overloaded with unproductive workers and partly because the country's population has been steadily declining. The last time Albania had so many state employees was in 2002.