The Myanmar Pay, Compensation and HumanResource Management Review was undertaken in 2015-2017 inresponse to the Government of Myanmar’s request for adviceto inform compensation and human resource policies thatreflect country-specific challenges. The analysis,generously supported by Denmark, Australia and UK-DFID, wasjointly conducted by the Government of Myanmar and the WorldBank.In addition to the analysis, the review aimed todevelop capacity of government agencies responsible forwage-bill and human resource management. Capacitydevelopment happens within institutions, and can only beeffective, if government assumes strong ownership. In thiscontext, the Union Cabinet established the “Pay,Compensation, and Human Resource Review ImplementationInter-Ministerial Committee” comprising key ministries tooversee the review. The World Bank team worked closely witha task team in the Ministry of Planning and Finance.The mainmethods used to review the government’s pay and compensationsystem included: i) review of government regulations; ii)analysis of administrative data; iii) focus groupdiscussions and a small survey to assess civil servants’perception about pay and human resource functions; and iv) amodel that simulates the impact of potential changes to payand employment, customized to Myanmar’s circumstances. Thismodel can be applied by the Ministry of Planning and Financefor future wage-bill planning. Specifically, the modelhelped highlight that size of the wage bill is not animmediate concern. Its rapid growth in recent years, as wellas growing fiscal vulnerabilities from potential externalshocks, demand closer attention to overall growth in thepublic-sector wage bill. Future salary increases may needcareful targeting given the growing attractiveness of theprivate sector as a career option for young talent andprofessionals.The review also drills down on the educationsector. Constituting nearly 40 percent of the totalworkforce employed by the Union Government, the educationsector makes up nearly one-half of the union budget’s wagebill. The review also provides important context for teacherpolicy on employment and pay, and suggests reform optionsfor managing teacher workforce for better educationoutcomes.The findings suggest a series of policy prioritiesfor improving the performance of the civil service. Thereport includes a wealth of findings and practical,realistic recommendations. However, it is only the firststep on the long journey of evidence-based reforms to managewage bill and performance of the Myanmar civil service. TheGovernment of Myanmar and the Bank will continue to worktogether during implementation of the recommendations, andfor future research and analysis.