Government wage bills have been growingacross the world, but are exceptionally high in the MENAregion relative to countries’ state of development, whethermeasured as a share of GDP, or of government revenue andspending (World Bank, 2004). Across the region governmentwage bills threaten fiscal sustainability. There are manydrivers behind the large wage bills, whether of centralgovernment alone or of general government. Governmentemployment numbers also seem to grow inexorably, in manyareas faster than required to deliver services in line withpopulation growth. Other factors have been weak staffcontrol systems, the authorization of new recruitmentoutside budget frameworks, and laxly applied staffperformance assessment systems, in addition to absenteeism,and the difficulty under public service rules ofdisciplining and ultimately terminating poorly performingstaff. This paper takes a look at government wage billgrowth, alongside current approaches to recruitment, staffperformance assessments and promotions, with particularemphasis on Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. These countryexamples are complemented by a broader regional analysis toillustrate overarching trends in public sectoremployment.The objective is to identify the various forcesat work, how they interact, and thereby document andunderstand better the dynamic of public sector wage billexpansion in the Middle Eastas well as potential linkagesto public sector performance.The paper also looks atreform efforts, extracts lessons and identify potentialreform options to better control wage bill growth and theunbalancing effects it has had on the efficiency andeffectiveness of government spending generally. Furthermore,while the paper does not present a comprehensive overview ofthe nature of public employment in MENA, it aims to identifypotential areas for further research in this domain.
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