Bangkok: Academics from Thammasat University have urged Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilapraphan to reconsider the early retirement plan for civil servants, advocating instead for a comprehensive reform of the public sector workforce strategy to better align with actual workload demands. They have proposed three systemic reforms to tackle the issues of overwork and surplus personnel effectively.

According to Thai News Agency, Associate Professor Dr. Wasan Leuangprabhas, Head of the Public Administration Department at Thammasat University, supports the Deputy Prime Minister's initiative to explore an early retirement plan. However, he emphasized that this should be part of a broader review of Thailand's public sector workforce strategy, which has been overlooked for the past two decades. Dr. Wasan outlined three key approaches to reforming the workforce system to ensure optimal resource allocation and reduce inefficiencies.

Firstly, Dr. Wasan suggested that the Civil Service Commission (CSC) should utilize comprehensive data from the entire civil service system to plan for public sector workforce needs. Historically, the CSC has focused primarily on central government officials, neglecting local government officials and specific professional fields. This has led to uneven personnel distribution, with some agencies experiencing overstaffing while others face shortages, particularly in specialized areas like medicine.

Secondly, the government and CSC are advised against adopting a uniform approach across all agencies, such as a blanket early retirement policy. Dr. Wasan warned that such a one-size-fits-all strategy might solve overstaffing in some areas but could worsen personnel shortages in critical sectors like healthcare.

Lastly, Dr. Wasan emphasized the need to clearly define and avoid overlapping roles and responsibilities among various government levels-central, regional, and local. He highlighted the inefficiency caused by redundant tasks across these levels, using the example of multiple agencies involved in road management. Effective reform, he argued, must ensure coordination and synergy among these government tiers.

In conclusion, Dr. Wasan noted that if the Deputy Prime Minister chooses to proceed with the early retirement focus, it should be informed by a thorough analysis of the overall civil servant data. He cautioned against a narrow approach and stressed the importance of addressing workforce issues in detail to prevent further complications. He urged the government to provide clear measures to support agencies struggling to manage workloads post-retirement, rather than leaving them to navigate these challenges independently.