Federal govt identifies 150,000 unfilled posts after downsizing effort

The federal government has reported that approximately 150,000 posts remain vacant across its departments and autonomous bodies, following the abolition of an equal number of positions under a rightsizing exercise to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) directives.

According to the latest Annual Statistical Bulletin of Federal Government Employees for 2022-23, the federal government, its attached departments, and autonomous bodies collectively have a sanctioned workforce of over 1.2 million. However, the actual working strength stands at 947,610, leaving 292,009 positions unfilled as of the last fiscal year.

Of these, 120,223 posts were vacant within the federal government, with a working strength of 590,585 employees out of a sanctioned 710,808 positions. Autonomous bodies accounted for 171,786 vacancies, as they employed 357,025 personnel against 528,811 sanctioned posts. The shortfall is expected to have increased in the current fiscal year due to minimal recruitment.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) recorded the highest ratio of federal jobs relative to its population share. KP-domiciled employees represent 28% of the federal workforce, surpassing the province’s 17% population share. 

In contrast, Punjab, while holding the largest share of federal jobs at 46%, fell short of its 53% population share. 

Sindh and Balochistan also showed underrepresentation, with Sindh holding 13.8% of federal jobs against its 23% population share and Balochistan securing 4.99% against its 6.2% share.

In absolute terms, Punjab had 272,773 federal employees, while KP followed with 167,025 employees, largely due to its 52% representation in civil armed forces. Sindh and Balochistan had 81,619 and 29,479 employees, respectively. 

The federal secretariat, with a sanctioned strength of 13,503 positions, was overwhelmingly dominated by Punjab-domiciled employees, who occupied 66.6% of these posts.

Women comprised only 5.11% of the federal workforce, with a total of 30,190 female employees, including 6,715 officers in Grades 17-22. This reflects a male-to-female employment ratio of nearly 19:1. Among federal divisions, the Interior Division emerged as the largest administrative unit, employing 42.83% of the total workforce, primarily due to civil armed forces personnel.

The bulletin highlighted disparities in employment grades, revealing that 95.4% of federal employees were in Grades 1-16, while only 4.6% held positions in Grades 17-22. Female representation was highest in Grade 17 at 22.2% but significantly lower across other grades.

The Defence Division accounted for 22.77% of the workforce, followed by Railways (11.26%), Communications (5.04%), and Revenue (3.26%). The remaining divisions collectively accounted for 14.84% of employees.