Budget plans about 110,000 further public-service recruits after 40,000 appointments
Illustrative empty office, not a Sri Lankan public-service workplace or recruitment venue.
November 12 Budget update: approved vacancies and further recruitment
The published report's November 12 Budget report and its hosted English speech PDF now put approved public-service vacancies at 148,940, with around 40,000 recruitments completed and provision to recruit about a further 110,000 in future. These rounded counts describe the new Budget account; the older 121,000 announcement below is retained as the earlier report, not an additional number to add to 110,000.
The approvals are attributed to the Cabinet-appointed staff-management officials' committee and the Department of Management Services following a recruitment review. The Budget account also proposes aligning promotion mechanisms in departmental and other executive services with those of island-wide services. It does not supply a complete list of jobs, application deadlines or individual appointment dates.
A budget provision is not a job offer or an instruction to pay an application fee. Candidates need the relevant department's official recruitment notice and eligibility rules before applying. The speech copy checked here is hosted by the published report rather than independently authenticated from a Treasury download.
Speech PDF hosted by the published report
Sri Lanka plans to recruit 121,000 people into the public service to fill posts left vacant during a prolonged pause in appointments, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said. The recruitment drive will include 23,000 teachers, alongside staff for universities and the health sector.
Speaking at an event at P.D. Sirisena Stadium in Colombo, the president said work on the programme had already begun. He stressed that each appointment would be made only after confirming that a specific job and workload existed, rather than treating the headline recruitment figure as an immediate offer of employment.
He also said the forthcoming budget would provide for a doubling of several essential public-service allowances. Basic salaries had already been increased, he said, with a further salary rise expected the following January. Bringing specialist knowledge and technical skills into public service would require moving beyond older pay structures.
Turning to the private sector, Dissanayake said it made a major contribution to the economy. He referred to an increase in its minimum pay and a rise in the income-tax exemption threshold from 100,000 to 150,000 rupees, adding that the government expected to raise that threshold further in the next budget.
