The Macau government has announced that it has decided to exclude the public University of Macau (UM), Macau Polytechnic Institute (MPU) and Macao University of Tourism (UTM) from its official ceiling on the number of public servants.
In a statement on Sunday, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) noted that the current government launched its campaign in April 2020 to ensure that the total number of public servants would not exceed 38,000 by the end of the current government’s term.
The current government headed by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng took office on December 20, 2019. Its term will end on December 19 this year.
The statement said that the almost-four-year campaign has made achievements as it has effectively prevented a large increase in the number of public servants.
The statement noted that when the government launched the campaign in 2020, the maximum number of 38,000 was scheduled to cover those employed by the three public higher education institutions.
The statement said that the ceiling on the number of public servants including the three tertiary education institutions would adversely affect their flexibility in recruiting highly-qualified academics, management members and other professionals, hired both locally and elsewhere.
The statement said that with the new laws regulating MPU and UTM respectively coming into force yesterday, the government has decided to exclude UM, MPU and UTM from its official ceiling aiming to control the number of public servants, because of which it has been amended, the aim now being to ensure that the number of public servants will not exceed 35,000 by the end of the current government’s term.
Macau has a total of four public higher education institutions, with the remaining one being the Macau Public Security Forces Academy.
