As part of ongoing efforts to modernize public administration in Greece, the Regulatory Policy Research Institute presents a new study by Panagiotis Karkatsoulis and Fotini Vitto, entitled "Job descriptions in a clientelistic environment."
The abolition of the Compulsory Education (YE) category for Station Masters after the Tembi tragedy highlighted the mismatch between formal qualifications and actual skills in public administration, while the current qualifications and classification system (P.D. 85/2022) does not effectively resolve these problems, limiting itself to superficial groupings of sectors.
Job analysis and job descriptions are proposed as tools for promoting efficiency and transparency, but the prevailing clientelist logic distorts them, turning them into an alibi for modernization.
The study highlights the need to redefine the classification of sectors/professions so that it serves the real needs of the public sector and enhances the professional competence of its executives.
The study proposes an anti-clientelist roadmap with three main pillars:
- scientific analysis of job positions,
- understanding of the Greek administrative reality,
- use of artificial intelligence with institutional and ethical guarantees.
This is a contribution to the public debate on the necessary redefinition of the classification of occupations and the strengthening of professionalism in the public sector.