Research Topic

“In sharp contrast to the distribution of most of its services, public administration stands in direct competition with employers in the private sector in the labor market” (Ritz & Waldner, 2011)

The dissertation focuses on positioning government as an attractive employer.  Whereas government has a monopolistic obligation to provide certain public goods, it still has to compete with other sectors for valuable human resources.  Amidst this war for talent, “public sector employees are often stereotyped as being lazy and drawn to a sector which some people consider ‘safe havens for the lazy’ where the workload is lower” (UNDP, 2014).  Besides this stigma suffered by government employees, public sector operations (especially in developing countries) are constantly disrupted by high rates of industrial action. This further distorts the reputation of government as an employer.

A central objective of this research therefore is to investigate how public sector officials deal with the dilemma of serving the public good while at the same time participating in activities aimed at improving public sector employment (for example, industrial action on the employee side and remuneration enhancement plans on the employer side).