Javier Milei continues with the "chainsaw plan" in Argentina: He will cut 7,000 public employees

Less than a month after becoming Argentina's new president, Javier Milei continues to cut state spending. After signing an extensive decree that deregulates the South American country's economy, which was one of the most repressed in the world according to the Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Index, the libertarian signed another decree not to renew the contracts of 7,000 public employees who joined the federal government in 2023.

The measure was first announced by the Minister of Economy, Luis Toto Caputo, and made official in Decree 84/2023, which confirms "the contracts of people who began to provide services as of January 1, 2023, in the organizations included in sections a) and c) of article 8 of law 24,156, will not be renewed."

The measure covers temporary employees "and any other type of contract that ends on December 31, 2023." It covers the entire national administration, as well as other public organizations such as ANSeS, PAMI and AFIP.

In turn, it was announced that the Executive Branch will review the situation of another 45 thousand state workers, whose performance will be evaluated in the coming weeks. At the same time, the authorities of each government area were instructed to carry out "an exhaustive survey" of the workers "whose date of entry into the administration is prior to January 1, 2023, to evaluate" their continuity.

Workers not affected by the decree

As for those not included in the decree, permanent workers stand out, as well as those who perform functions in state companies or companies and personnel who "have been performing tasks before January 1, 2023, and have changed their position."

At the same time, contract renewals will be permitted to those "that the head of each jurisdiction evaluates to be essential for the operation," although it will be done "in a restrictive manner and with grounds that its continuity is necessary for urgent reasons of operation."