In a bold move to streamline the public sector, the federal government has axed a staggering 30,968 jobs, with thousands more on the chopping block. The drastic cuts, confirmed during a Senate committee briefing, have already saved PKR 30 billion—but at what cost?
The hardest hit? Lower-grade employees. Over 7,300 Grade 1 jobs have vanished, with 4,200+ more set to disappear. But the axe didn’t spare top-tier roles either—senior positions in Grades 17-22 were also slashed, signaling a ruthless top-to-bottom purge.
Meanwhile, in a separate but equally contentious move, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif scrapped the decades-old “son quota”—a policy that once guaranteed jobs to family members of deceased government employees. The Supreme Court-backed decision has drawn mixed reactions, with critics calling it harsh on grieving families.
With 7,724 more jobs marked for elimination, uncertainty looms for public servants. Will this “rightsizing” drive boost efficiency, or trigger unrest in an already strained workforce?
