The Interim Government has begun shifting toward a market-oriented model, reducing the state’s role as the primary employer. Authorities have launched a three-pronged process: stabilizing payroll management through a unified employee database and salary adjustments; reviewing staffing through dismissals and reinstatements; and drafting a new civil service law to lay the foundation for long-term reform.
Workforce Numbers and Payroll Pressures in Transition
The first measure to address dysfunction in the public sector has focused on restoring payroll integrity amid disputes over the true size of the state workforce. In 2022, the number of public employees stood at about 1.5 million, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. This represented a 6.0% increase compared to 2011—an unlikely rise given the scale of displacement, economic collapse, territorial fragmentation, and administrative breakdown in the areas outside the government’s control. In fact, a 2024 study by the Institut National d’Administration (INA) in Damascus found that five ministries lost over 50% of their workforce between 2010 and 2022.
In January 2025, the caretaker Finance Minister acknowledged that only 900,000 of the roughly 1.3 million people then on the payroll were actually showing up to work, exposing the extent of ghost employment.
Several factors explain this: many had informally resigned, as formal resignation is often blocked or delayed, making quitting technically illegal. However, the larger factor likely stems from corruption: individuals receiving salaries without showing up to work, and outright employment of people under fake names. These salaries may have been siphoned off by complicit employees, as seen in other contexts such as Kenya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
To address these problems, the Interim Government launched a Unified National Employee Database in April 2025. According to the Ministry of Administrative Development (MOAD), the database is intended to improve oversight, reduce corruption, and support evidence-based reform. At the same time, MOAD launched a digitization project aimed at preserving and archiving employee records. It should be noted, however, that projects of this scale typically take years to complete, making the reported speed and scope of these initiatives difficult to verify.
In January 2025, the government announced a 400.0% salary hike for public employees. However, payroll audits uncovered inflated rosters, delaying the measure. By June 2025, following adoption of the unified database, the government proceeded with a 200.0% raise instead. While the Minister of Finance attributed the smaller increase to irregularities in payroll records, our analysis suggests the more likely reason was a lack of fiscal space to finance such a large raise without fueling inflationary pressures.
Such increases were nonetheless critical. In 2022, over a million public employees earned just USD 20–33 per month (see table below), while a standard food basket for a family of five cost USD 67. The 200.0% salary increase therefore provided significant relief for hundreds of thousands of families.
The recent increase is estimated to add USD 762 million to the annual wage bill, according to our calculations, or nearly 30% of the state’s projected 2024 revenue. Qatar pledged partial and temporary support, which has yet to arrive. Without more external aid, concerns remain that the gap is being covered through money printing and subsidy cuts, fueling inflation.
Public Sector Employees by Salary Range in 2011 (Exchange Rate: 1 USD = 47 SYP) |
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| Salary Bracket (USD) | Salary Bracket (SYP) | Number of Employees (% of Total) |
| 192+ | 9,001+ | 1,066,521 (78.4%) |
| 170 – 192 | 8,001 – 9,000 | 99,980 (7.4%) |
| 149 – 170 | 7,001 – 8,000 | 86,399 (6.4%) |
| 127 – 149 | 6,001 – 7,000 | 38,771 (2.9%) |
| 106 – 127 | 5,001 – 6,000 | 14,322 (1.1%) |
| < 106 | < 5,000 | 54,028 (4.0%) |
| Total | 1,360,021 | |
Public Sector Employees by Salary Range in 2022 (Exchange Rate: 1 USD = 4,491 SYP) |
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| Salary Groups (USD) | Salary Groups (SYP) | Number of Employees (% of Total) |
| 100+ | 450,000+ | 1,208 (0.1%) |
| 73 – 100 | 330,001 – 450,000 | 1,242 (0.1%) |
| 60 – 73 | 270,001 – 330,000 | 16,673 (1.2%) |
| 47 – 60 | 210,001 – 270,000 | 32,360 (2.2%) |
| 33 – 47 | 150,001 – 210,000 | 274,595 (19.0%) |
| 20 – 33 | 90,001 – 150,000 | 1,069,673 (74.0%) |
| < 20 | < 90,000 | 52,144 (3.6%) |
| Total | 1,447,895 | |
| Source: Central Bureau of Statistics. Data compiled by Karam Shaar Advisory Ltd. | ||
