The government plans to hire 27,494 new employees this year to replace retiring public servants and accommodate the growing needs of the ministries, according to a letter signed by Minister of Public Functions Pich Bunthin on February 18.

The target number includes 7,621 positions for public officials with retirement benefits, 10,921 positions for contracted officials without retirement benefits, and 6,530 positions for freelancers. On top of that, there are 1,462 slots for contracted monk teachers and 960 jobs for gardeners.

The Ministry of Education will hire the most people.

The Ministry of Public Service urged officials to reserve 20 to 50 per cent of posts for women and 2 per cent for people with disabilities.

The Kingdom has just over 200,000 civil servants.

Heak Tri, general secretary of the Cambodian Independent Civil Servants Association, said it’s high time that the ministries tackle the issue of “ghost workers”: officials who collect paychecks without working.

He also warned against nepotism, saying it’s common practice for officials to put their children into cushy jobs, bypassing the selection process.