SOE downsizing continues as Fenaka invites staff to resign with four‑month payout

Fenaka Corporation has offered employees the option to resign voluntarily in exchange for four months’ salary.

The offer was communicated in a memo sent by Chief Corporate Officer Usaid Hussain to all departments after the agreement was signed.

According to the memo, the voluntary resignation window is part of the company’s efforts to reduce its workforce. Applications will be accepted from tomorrow until 15:00 on Tuesday, and employees wishing to resign have been instructed to submit their requests to the Human Resources Department.

The memo states that employees who resign under this scheme will receive four months’ salary.

Fenaka, a loss‑making state‑owned utility, has faced repeated allegations of corruption in recent years. The company has also been criticised for politically motivated mass hiring during election periods.

Managing Director Mohamed Afeef Hussain previously said Fenaka employs around 8,000 staff, noting that with such a large workforce, there are inevitably employees who are not able to perform at the required level.

In April, the Finance Ministry instructed the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) to reduce staff numbers at state‑owned enterprises by 33 percent.

Since then, several SOEs have begun implementing staff‑reduction measures, according to the ministry.

The Maldives, with a population of around 400,000, has 30,312 civil servants, bringing the total number of people employed in government and SOEs to 72,312.

Experts note that such a high proportion of the population working in government jobs is not typical of developed economies. Economists warn that as the state payroll expands, a growing share of public funds must be spent on salaries, contributing to economic strain and slowing development.

Government debt has risen sharply, and international agencies have long urged the Maldives to reduce public spending. Although the government has pledged reforms, key measures such as pension and subsidy restructuring have been delayed.