T
he workforce at the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will undergo restructuring to limit future hires, announced Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power and Energy.
Minister Kanchana Wijesekera shared on Twitter, “The currently approved cadre of over 26,000 employees will be adjusted to curb future recruitment.”
“In the coming weeks, a new salary structure, performance-based incentives, and a revised promotion system will be introduced for CEB employees,” Wijesekera added.
In recent discussions with CEB trade unions, Wijesekera addressed the reform structure, implementation timeline, appointments to successor companies, and decisions related to human resource management, salary structures, and policy management.
Earlier this month, Sri Lanka’s parliament passed a new electricity law aimed at unbundling the sector.
Analysts emphasize that restructuring state-owned enterprises is crucial for effective debt restructuring in the country.
“After two years of negotiations, we secured a $5.8 billion schedule from the Paris Club-led OCC. However, we took on $3 billion from two SOEs (CEB & CPC), accounting for over 50% of the deal. SOEs are often the root cause of debt and corruption,” stated Dhananath Fernando of the Advocata Institute, a public policy think tank, on Twitter.
