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MBON: The government is expected to hire up to 70,000 new civil servants next year, Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar said on Tuesday.

Azwar said that the new recruits would replace half of the 130,000 government workers who would retire next year.

“Next year, we will recruit half the total number of civil servants entering their retirement period. It will be between 65,000 and 70,000 people,” Zainal said as quoted by kompas.com.

Azwar said the government planned to only replace half of the retirees as it was trying to reduce spending on salaries and benefits for government workers. He added that the government would also only hire essential staff for government offices.