Pakistan’s federal government has decided to abolish 60% of permanent government jobs that have remained vacant for one year or longer, according to a notification issued by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA).
The move is part of an effort to revise the number of sanctioned positions across federal government departments and update recruitment and promotion quotas.
Under the decision, posts that have remained vacant for at least a year will be subject to abolition. However, positions that became vacant because of transfers, postings or promotions will be excluded.
The abolished positions will be removed from the quotas reserved for initial and direct recruitment, meaning departments will no longer be able to fill those posts through these recruitment channels.
The CGA has directed all relevant accounts offices to prepare new vacancy rosters reflecting the revised number of available positions.
Officials have also been instructed to process pending promotion cases according to the updated vacancy positions.
The decision could affect the number of vacancies available for future recruitment across federal government departments, although the notification does not indicate that all long-vacant positions will be eliminated.
Governments routinely review sanctioned posts that remain unfilled for extended periods. Such reviews can be aimed at aligning staffing structures with current administrative requirements and controlling public expenditure.
The latest decision specifically distinguishes between posts that have remained vacant for an extended period and vacancies created temporarily by routine personnel movements such as transfers, promotions or new postings.
The government has not indicated how many posts nationwide will ultimately be abolished under the policy.
The revised vacancy rosters are expected to provide departments with a clearer picture of the positions that remain available for recruitment and promotion.
