“Their (civil service) salaries and pensions account for about 45% of the operating budget of the federal government,” he said in a talk organised by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research today.

After taking into account statutory payments like debt servicing and grants to state governments, there would not be much left in the operating expenditure for the maintenance of public facilities, he said.

Sheriff said the reduction of expenditure on the civil service has to be done in stages, and suggested introducing measures practised in the private sector.

Those who fail or refuse to perform should be offered early retirement, and promotions and recruitment should be based on merit, irrespective of race and religion, he said.

The director of the Social Wellbeing Research Centre, Universiti Malaya, Norma Mansor, said the Public Services Commission should ensure that recruitment into the public sector was done more strategically.

“Promotions and training should be towards promoting better talent development,” she said.

However, she said promotions were still based on seniority, and cited the size of the civil service as a factor in the difficulty to make changes.

Norma expressed concern over how budget constraints may be denying the new generation of civil servants from receiving the valuable training that senior civil servants received in the past.

She emphasised the need for proper training to help them better understand the private sector and be globally effective.